Mr RIOLI - 1996-08-22
The coronial inquiry into a death in custody at Nguiu on Bathurst Island in May this year was told that warning was given a number of times during 1995 that the cell there was inadequate. Police officers begged the Northern Territory government to replace the cell. Why were these requests ignored?
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I understood this matter was still the subject of a coronial inquiry.
Mr Bell: So?
Mr STONE: If it is, I do not intend to make any comment on it until such time ...
Mr Bell: Oh, rubbish!
Mr STONE: You may say `rubbish', but I will not make any pre-emptive comment on a matter the subject of a coronial inquiry.
Mr Bell: You should be ashamed of yourself.
Mr Manzie: That is a ridiculous statement from someone like you.
Mr STONE: That is absolutely absurd.
It is my understanding that the matter is the subject of a coronial inquiry. I understand that the coroner is yet to announce his findings. I am happy to extend to the member for Arafura a complete briefing, following on from those findings being brought down. However, if he thinks that I will provide an answer on the run, before that coronial finding is made public, I have to say that I will not do it.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The interjections made in a chorus by members opposite, like a bunch of galahs, seem to indicate that they do not understand the propriety of what I am putting to them. They should acknowledge, at least, that the Northern Territory government has been at the forefront in implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ...
Mr Stirling: Not true.
Mr STONE: Who says that it is not true? What an easy interjection to make!
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: If it is not true, I ask the member for Nhulunbuy why he has not been on his feet, sittings after sittings, trying to pin the government down on it and pointing to where it is not true. You are just beyond belief.
Members opposite know that this government has worked tirelessly with Aboriginal communities. We have put in place many strategies that are not to be found in the states,
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including Labor states, to deal with some of these issues. Yet here we have these half-smart interjections which are designed simply to create mischief and spread misinformation.
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Page 1541
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I understood this matter was still the subject of a coronial inquiry.
Mr Bell: So?
Mr STONE: If it is, I do not intend to make any comment on it until such time ...
Mr Bell: Oh, rubbish!
Mr STONE: You may say `rubbish', but I will not make any pre-emptive comment on a matter the subject of a coronial inquiry.
Mr Bell: You should be ashamed of yourself.
Mr Manzie: That is a ridiculous statement from someone like you.
Mr STONE: That is absolutely absurd.
It is my understanding that the matter is the subject of a coronial inquiry. I understand that the coroner is yet to announce his findings. I am happy to extend to the member for Arafura a complete briefing, following on from those findings being brought down. However, if he thinks that I will provide an answer on the run, before that coronial finding is made public, I have to say that I will not do it.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The interjections made in a chorus by members opposite, like a bunch of galahs, seem to indicate that they do not understand the propriety of what I am putting to them. They should acknowledge, at least, that the Northern Territory government has been at the forefront in implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ...
Mr Stirling: Not true.
Mr STONE: Who says that it is not true? What an easy interjection to make!
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: If it is not true, I ask the member for Nhulunbuy why he has not been on his feet, sittings after sittings, trying to pin the government down on it and pointing to where it is not true. You are just beyond belief.
Members opposite know that this government has worked tirelessly with Aboriginal communities. We have put in place many strategies that are not to be found in the states,
Page 1542
including Labor states, to deal with some of these issues. Yet here we have these half-smart interjections which are designed simply to create mischief and spread misinformation.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016