Mr ADAMSON - 1996-10-15
Now that the Territory's former federal member, Warren Snowdon, has lost his challenge over the result of the last federal election, the member for Barkly has called for bipartisan support to have the federal Electoral Act amended. What is the Chief Minister's response to the Leader of the Opposition's call?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I always pay very close attention to what members opposite suggest from time to time. They are not completely devoid of good ideas and, occasionally, they have a proposition that is worthy of support. We hear the maniacal laugh from the member for MacDonnell in the background. I have always said that I am happy to borrow good ideas, whether they come from the independent member for Nelson or from members of the Labor Party. When I saw the headline of the NT News of Monday 14 October, `NT voters' rights different', I thought I would look at it because, if that is the case, something should be done about it. However, I was struck by the irony of the fact that Labor had been quite happy to accept this system for 3 federal elections and we had never heard a complaint from Warren Snowdon during that time. The story started to unfold during the course of the week and Warren Snowdon even went to air on 8DDD on 11 October, saying that it was discrimination.
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Those were the words that he used. He said that it was discrimination against Territory electors. The Leader of the Opposition followed on 14 October by saying that Territorians could be disenfranchised and denied the right to vote basically at the whim of the federal parliament because of section 122 of the Australian Constitution.
The Leader of the Opposition is sitting across the Chamber, nodding her head wisely. That surprises me because I listened to the Kath McKenzie program yesterday afternoon and I can only imagine that the Leader of the Opposition's jaw must have been on the floor when Mr Heisner pointed out that in fact this was the case throughout Australia. How extraordinary! What a revelation! There was nothing special about this at all. The Leader of the Opposition has been caught out once again. This is what ...
Mr Bailey: You do not understand it.
Mr STONE: I understand it, and I will come to that in a minute because I have now had a briefing. I understand exactly what the Leader of the Opposition is trying to achieve. She is trying to rort the electoral system and she is about to be exposed ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The Chief Minister cannot accuse the Leader of the Opposition of attempting to rort the system.
Mr STONE: I withdraw that, Mr Speaker, but I certainly intend to point out ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker! It must be an unqualified withdrawal.
Mr SPEAKER: As I understood it, it was an unqualified withdrawal.
Mr STONE: Members opposite are sensitive because they know I am on to them. They know they are about to be exposed.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Let us come back to what Kerry Heisner had to say, despite the interjections from the member for Wanguri who is absolutely determined to start the week off by interrupting all ministers. This is what Mr Heisner said:
What it was all about was the existence of subdivisions in the Northern Territory. I will start off by saying
that it is really important that people actually realise that this whole case is about a safety net at
the end of the enrolment line. The legislation actually requires everyone, no matter who they are, to
re-enrol after they move permanently for 4 weeks. If people do that, then this provision will never actually
come into action.
He went on to say - and I hope people listening at home will understand this - that this is not a safety net. This is all about accountability and about ensuring there is honesty in the electoral system.
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Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: The Leader of the Opposition interjects because she must be mortally embarrassed by what was revealed last night. This is what he said:
It is also important to realise the perceived problem up here. If you live in a city, for example like
Brisbane, Sydney, Perth or Adelaide, each of those cities actually has between 10 or 12 or 13 divisions in
it, and you can move from 1 district or 1 suburb just to the next suburb, and face exactly the same problem
as the people in the Territory.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: We do not want a system that is different from that in the rest of Australia ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Therefore, we are led to ask the obvious question. What is this all about? We have an electoral system that members opposite have never complained about before. It is a system that they were happy to embrace, provided Warren Snowdon continued to win the election. Suddenly, he lost and they ran off to the court and said it was unfair. They said it was discriminatory and they wanted it changed because it was not the same situation as applied in the rest of Australia. Quite clearly, it is the same system as applies in the rest of Australia. In a nutshell, my adviser said to me that this is all about freeing up the whole electorate on one division which makes it easier to bus people in. That is what this is all about. There ...
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: ... are examples of that. Members opposite are trying to create a system. We have seen them at work. They run across state borders. We have seen them do it, and that is what they are trying to contrive here. They have spread all this poppycock, and that is what it is, about the voting rights of Territorians being different from those of other Australians, only to discover last night, from the words of Kerry Heisner himself, that people living in capital cities elsewhere in the country face exactly the same sort of problems. As he pointed out, it is a safety net. It is a form of accountability which members opposite, including the Leader of the Opposition ...
Mr Bailey: No, it is not.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Wanguri cannot help himself. He wants to interject ...
Members interjecting.
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Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bailey: You are not telling the truth.
Mr STONE: There he goes. He cannot help himself. He does not want to hear the truth ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I ask the Chief Minister to resume his seat. The member for Wanguri is carrying on a little too much again, and I warn him.
Mr STONE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is no point in asking him to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: These are the same members who come into this Chamber and say that big, bad Shane Stone will not let them have a say, but anyone who listens to this broadcast could not help but notice the constant interjections over the top of ministers when they attempt to answer. As I said when I rose to my feet, I will support any proposal that guarantees Territorians the same rights as are enjoyed in the rest of Australia, but I will not support members opposite coming in here and trying to concoct a story to make out that the situation is other than it is.
Page 1678
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I always pay very close attention to what members opposite suggest from time to time. They are not completely devoid of good ideas and, occasionally, they have a proposition that is worthy of support. We hear the maniacal laugh from the member for MacDonnell in the background. I have always said that I am happy to borrow good ideas, whether they come from the independent member for Nelson or from members of the Labor Party. When I saw the headline of the NT News of Monday 14 October, `NT voters' rights different', I thought I would look at it because, if that is the case, something should be done about it. However, I was struck by the irony of the fact that Labor had been quite happy to accept this system for 3 federal elections and we had never heard a complaint from Warren Snowdon during that time. The story started to unfold during the course of the week and Warren Snowdon even went to air on 8DDD on 11 October, saying that it was discrimination.
Page 1675
Those were the words that he used. He said that it was discrimination against Territory electors. The Leader of the Opposition followed on 14 October by saying that Territorians could be disenfranchised and denied the right to vote basically at the whim of the federal parliament because of section 122 of the Australian Constitution.
The Leader of the Opposition is sitting across the Chamber, nodding her head wisely. That surprises me because I listened to the Kath McKenzie program yesterday afternoon and I can only imagine that the Leader of the Opposition's jaw must have been on the floor when Mr Heisner pointed out that in fact this was the case throughout Australia. How extraordinary! What a revelation! There was nothing special about this at all. The Leader of the Opposition has been caught out once again. This is what ...
Mr Bailey: You do not understand it.
Mr STONE: I understand it, and I will come to that in a minute because I have now had a briefing. I understand exactly what the Leader of the Opposition is trying to achieve. She is trying to rort the electoral system and she is about to be exposed ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The Chief Minister cannot accuse the Leader of the Opposition of attempting to rort the system.
Mr STONE: I withdraw that, Mr Speaker, but I certainly intend to point out ...
Mr BELL: A point of order, Mr Speaker! It must be an unqualified withdrawal.
Mr SPEAKER: As I understood it, it was an unqualified withdrawal.
Mr STONE: Members opposite are sensitive because they know I am on to them. They know they are about to be exposed.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Let us come back to what Kerry Heisner had to say, despite the interjections from the member for Wanguri who is absolutely determined to start the week off by interrupting all ministers. This is what Mr Heisner said:
What it was all about was the existence of subdivisions in the Northern Territory. I will start off by saying
that it is really important that people actually realise that this whole case is about a safety net at
the end of the enrolment line. The legislation actually requires everyone, no matter who they are, to
re-enrol after they move permanently for 4 weeks. If people do that, then this provision will never actually
come into action.
He went on to say - and I hope people listening at home will understand this - that this is not a safety net. This is all about accountability and about ensuring there is honesty in the electoral system.
Page 1676
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: The Leader of the Opposition interjects because she must be mortally embarrassed by what was revealed last night. This is what he said:
It is also important to realise the perceived problem up here. If you live in a city, for example like
Brisbane, Sydney, Perth or Adelaide, each of those cities actually has between 10 or 12 or 13 divisions in
it, and you can move from 1 district or 1 suburb just to the next suburb, and face exactly the same problem
as the people in the Territory.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: We do not want a system that is different from that in the rest of Australia ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Therefore, we are led to ask the obvious question. What is this all about? We have an electoral system that members opposite have never complained about before. It is a system that they were happy to embrace, provided Warren Snowdon continued to win the election. Suddenly, he lost and they ran off to the court and said it was unfair. They said it was discriminatory and they wanted it changed because it was not the same situation as applied in the rest of Australia. Quite clearly, it is the same system as applies in the rest of Australia. In a nutshell, my adviser said to me that this is all about freeing up the whole electorate on one division which makes it easier to bus people in. That is what this is all about. There ...
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: ... are examples of that. Members opposite are trying to create a system. We have seen them at work. They run across state borders. We have seen them do it, and that is what they are trying to contrive here. They have spread all this poppycock, and that is what it is, about the voting rights of Territorians being different from those of other Australians, only to discover last night, from the words of Kerry Heisner himself, that people living in capital cities elsewhere in the country face exactly the same sort of problems. As he pointed out, it is a safety net. It is a form of accountability which members opposite, including the Leader of the Opposition ...
Mr Bailey: No, it is not.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Wanguri cannot help himself. He wants to interject ...
Members interjecting.
Page 1677
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bailey: You are not telling the truth.
Mr STONE: There he goes. He cannot help himself. He does not want to hear the truth ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I ask the Chief Minister to resume his seat. The member for Wanguri is carrying on a little too much again, and I warn him.
Mr STONE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is no point in asking him to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: These are the same members who come into this Chamber and say that big, bad Shane Stone will not let them have a say, but anyone who listens to this broadcast could not help but notice the constant interjections over the top of ministers when they attempt to answer. As I said when I rose to my feet, I will support any proposal that guarantees Territorians the same rights as are enjoyed in the rest of Australia, but I will not support members opposite coming in here and trying to concoct a story to make out that the situation is other than it is.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016