Mr GUNNER - 2016-02-10
When asked by the NT News whether your potential purchase of shares was discussed at your meeting with the CT Group in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15 you replied:
Will you rule out that you discussed your potential purchase of shares in the CT Group’s Space Ship One mega mall project at any time on this one-day trip to Vietnam which cost the Territory taxpayer $2000 plus $300 entertainment expenses and was verbally approved by the Chief Minister?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. The trip to which you were referring, if I remember rightly, was when I was already in Thailand, having also been in Cambodia. I made a change to my itinerary, with the approval of the Chief Minister, towards the end of that trip, to travel to Ho Chi Minh City to have discussions with the CT Group about the progress of the dragon fruit project it was looking at in the Northern Territory.
I made that trip because I had, at the time, received some anecdotal information that there had been some delays or problems with progress. I was becoming a little concerned that perhaps the Northern Territory government could be offering to do more to assist the CT Group with its dragon fruit project.
The purpose of the trip was to talk to the CT Group about its project and whether the Northern Territory government could be assisting further or doing something more for it to facilitate this project, which we see as quite important for the relationship between the Northern Territory and Vietnam, but also for the economy of the Northern Territory.
In answer to the question, the discussions were about the dragon fruit project, nothing else. That was the purpose of the trip.
It is interesting to see that you have selectively tried to pluck some travel cost figures out, but it should be fairly obvious that that was a leg on the way back from Bangkok returning to Darwin. Instead of flying from – I think the original plan was …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. With 60 seconds to go, will you categorically rule out discussing the purchase of shares in the CT Group on that day?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Sit down.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: If I remember rightly, the original plan might have been to fly our delegation from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and then back to Australia. I stand corrected if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that was the original itinerary. All I did was change one leg so instead of going via Kuala Lumpur I came back via Ho Chi Minh City. That would have incurred around the same costs as if I had travelled to Kuala Lumpur.
I say again, when I went to Ho Chi Minh City on that occasion I did so for the purpose of having a discussion with the CT Group about its dragon fruit project and nothing else.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. With 15 seconds to go, he has not answered the question and ruled out discussing the CT Group shares.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
- There was absolutely no mention or discussion at this meeting about anything other than the Northern Territory Government’s ongoing support of the dragon fruit project.
Will you rule out that you discussed your potential purchase of shares in the CT Group’s Space Ship One mega mall project at any time on this one-day trip to Vietnam which cost the Territory taxpayer $2000 plus $300 entertainment expenses and was verbally approved by the Chief Minister?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. The trip to which you were referring, if I remember rightly, was when I was already in Thailand, having also been in Cambodia. I made a change to my itinerary, with the approval of the Chief Minister, towards the end of that trip, to travel to Ho Chi Minh City to have discussions with the CT Group about the progress of the dragon fruit project it was looking at in the Northern Territory.
I made that trip because I had, at the time, received some anecdotal information that there had been some delays or problems with progress. I was becoming a little concerned that perhaps the Northern Territory government could be offering to do more to assist the CT Group with its dragon fruit project.
The purpose of the trip was to talk to the CT Group about its project and whether the Northern Territory government could be assisting further or doing something more for it to facilitate this project, which we see as quite important for the relationship between the Northern Territory and Vietnam, but also for the economy of the Northern Territory.
In answer to the question, the discussions were about the dragon fruit project, nothing else. That was the purpose of the trip.
It is interesting to see that you have selectively tried to pluck some travel cost figures out, but it should be fairly obvious that that was a leg on the way back from Bangkok returning to Darwin. Instead of flying from – I think the original plan was …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. With 60 seconds to go, will you categorically rule out discussing the purchase of shares in the CT Group on that day?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Sit down.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: If I remember rightly, the original plan might have been to fly our delegation from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and then back to Australia. I stand corrected if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that was the original itinerary. All I did was change one leg so instead of going via Kuala Lumpur I came back via Ho Chi Minh City. That would have incurred around the same costs as if I had travelled to Kuala Lumpur.
I say again, when I went to Ho Chi Minh City on that occasion I did so for the purpose of having a discussion with the CT Group about its dragon fruit project and nothing else.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. With 15 seconds to go, he has not answered the question and ruled out discussing the CT Group shares.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016