Mrs HICKEY - 1995-11-22
On ABC radio 2 weeks ago, the Chief Minister promised that legislation to enact on-the-spot fines would be introduced in the Assembly next week. Yesterday, his Attorney-General said that it would not happen. Last week, the Chief Minister was promising legislation to ban the F-word. At the same time, his Attorney-General was saying that legislation was not the way to go. Can the Chief Minister explain this Laurel and Hardy act to Territorians? Is it a deliberate policy of the government to have the Chief Minister fly a kite and then to have the Attorney-General throw buckets of water all over it, or is this simply the Chief Minister engaging in the rhetoric of law and order and one of his ministers refusing to follow that path?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, let me assure members opposite and people listening to this broadcast that legislation for on-the-spot fines will be introduced in the course of these sittings. The Attorney-General rejects the suggestion that he ever said that it would not. When the member for Barkly checks her transcript - and I challenge her to table it, if she has it - she may like to make a personal explanation if, in fact, she has misled the parliament by making that statement.
Page 1018
Mr Ede: That is absolute garbage. He did not deny it...
Mr STONE: Once again, we have just heard the Leader of the Opposition interject, `You did not deny it'. He has moved from the position of saying `You said' to saying `You did not deny it'. I hope Territorians listening to this broadcast recognise that this is the sort of deception and lies that come from the Labour Party in this country. They indulge in this sort of footwork. They get to their feet and say `You said' but, when the pressure is on, they turn around and say `Well, you did not deny it. It is the same thing'. It is not the same thing.
Mr Ede: Garbage. It is printed there, and you accepted it.
Mr STONE: When you start fiddling with the truth and making those sorts of misrepresentations, you have no credibility at all.
Let me deal with the F-word. I am glad the member raised this matter because it is yet another example of her coming into the Chamber and saying that I said that I would ban the word when I never said that at all. I am very sure of what I said, because I was very careful about what I said, and it was that there is a time and a place for everything. I would be surprised if members opposite disagreed with that view. I would be surprised if members opposite did not take the view that this word is in common usage but that there is a time and a place for everything. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition - who comes into this Chamber and stands up for the rights of women - would like to field some of the questions and telephone calls that I took about the T-shirt in Casuarina.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: She is the great champion of women's rights, yet women do not have confidence in her representing their point of view. We saw that at the last sittings when she pushed out her electorate secretary to go and do the explaining.
In relation to that word, there is a time and a place for everything. No one on this side has ever said that they would legislate the word out of existence. It could not be done anyway. However, one would expect magistrates at least to better reflect community opinion in the way that they make findings on the facts. That is a separate and very different matter from saying that the word will be legislated out of existence.
Let me assure the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that it is not a matter of rhetoric. Legislation for on-the-spot fines will be introduced during the course of these sittings.
Mr Ede: That is not what he said. He said that he would not be able to have it done in time.
Mr STONE: We will see what the transcript says. If it turns out that you are wrong, I hope you will have the good grace to apologise.
We see this tactic used repeatedly. Members opposite make assertions in Question Time, which is being broadcast, and later, when there is no one around, they slink in here and admit that they did not get it right.
Page 1019
Mrs Hickey: I do not intend to do that. My question still stands.
Page 1020
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, let me assure members opposite and people listening to this broadcast that legislation for on-the-spot fines will be introduced in the course of these sittings. The Attorney-General rejects the suggestion that he ever said that it would not. When the member for Barkly checks her transcript - and I challenge her to table it, if she has it - she may like to make a personal explanation if, in fact, she has misled the parliament by making that statement.
Page 1018
Mr Ede: That is absolute garbage. He did not deny it...
Mr STONE: Once again, we have just heard the Leader of the Opposition interject, `You did not deny it'. He has moved from the position of saying `You said' to saying `You did not deny it'. I hope Territorians listening to this broadcast recognise that this is the sort of deception and lies that come from the Labour Party in this country. They indulge in this sort of footwork. They get to their feet and say `You said' but, when the pressure is on, they turn around and say `Well, you did not deny it. It is the same thing'. It is not the same thing.
Mr Ede: Garbage. It is printed there, and you accepted it.
Mr STONE: When you start fiddling with the truth and making those sorts of misrepresentations, you have no credibility at all.
Let me deal with the F-word. I am glad the member raised this matter because it is yet another example of her coming into the Chamber and saying that I said that I would ban the word when I never said that at all. I am very sure of what I said, because I was very careful about what I said, and it was that there is a time and a place for everything. I would be surprised if members opposite disagreed with that view. I would be surprised if members opposite did not take the view that this word is in common usage but that there is a time and a place for everything. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition - who comes into this Chamber and stands up for the rights of women - would like to field some of the questions and telephone calls that I took about the T-shirt in Casuarina.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: She is the great champion of women's rights, yet women do not have confidence in her representing their point of view. We saw that at the last sittings when she pushed out her electorate secretary to go and do the explaining.
In relation to that word, there is a time and a place for everything. No one on this side has ever said that they would legislate the word out of existence. It could not be done anyway. However, one would expect magistrates at least to better reflect community opinion in the way that they make findings on the facts. That is a separate and very different matter from saying that the word will be legislated out of existence.
Let me assure the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that it is not a matter of rhetoric. Legislation for on-the-spot fines will be introduced during the course of these sittings.
Mr Ede: That is not what he said. He said that he would not be able to have it done in time.
Mr STONE: We will see what the transcript says. If it turns out that you are wrong, I hope you will have the good grace to apologise.
We see this tactic used repeatedly. Members opposite make assertions in Question Time, which is being broadcast, and later, when there is no one around, they slink in here and admit that they did not get it right.
Page 1019
Mrs Hickey: I do not intend to do that. My question still stands.
Page 1020
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016