Mrs HICKEY - 1997-02-18
Someone who attended the most recent Country Liberal Party political polling activity reported as follows:
Any kind of discussion that would seem to put the Country Liberal Party into disfavour was immediately
quashed very forcefully. The view was that we give too much money to the blackfellows - very anti-funding of
the Aboriginals, a waste of resources on the part of the government.
Some 48 hours later, the Chief Minister erupted with his now infamous tirade against all Aboriginal Territorians - `these people' as he calls them. Will he tell us whether the next election campaign is to be dictated entirely by his southern election advisers in this way, no matter how much it tears apart the fabric of the community or how irreparably it damages the Territory lifestyle?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, can I say firstly to the Leader of the Opposition that I do not have a southern pollster or ...
Mr Bailey: What about Mark Textor who comes up here ...
Mr STONE: You mention the name of Mark Textor. Have a look at the photograph taken on the day that self-government was granted, with Paul Everingham standing next to the
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flag. Look across and there is a little kid from Nakara Primary School. That is Mark Textor. He also went to secondary school here. He is a Territorian and we are proud to call him one of ours. Don't come in here with your grubby, sleazy name-calling and belittle someone who has developed for himself an outstanding reputation as a pollster around the world.
Mr Bailey: And introduced push-polling and the other grubby tactics ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Chief Minister will resume his seat for a moment. The member for Wanguri is pushing my patience this morning. I ask him to desist from his incessant interjection.
Mr STONE: Mr Speaker, the focus groups that the Leader of the Opposition referred to were not being run for the Northern Territory government. They were being run using the entitlement of the Country Liberal Party administrative wing in the same way that the Labor Party conducted very extensive polling before Christmas. The ALP ran a very big poll. It is a legitimate function of political parties to do polling.
The member claimed that I erupted out of the blue and made my statements. I will tell her why I described Galarrwuy Yunupingu in the terms that I did. It was because I was prepared to stand up as an Australian and a Territorian and take issue with him about what he had to say at the National Press Club. If the Leader of the Opposition had any gumption, she too would have tackled him and said that people who want to go into international forums and bag this nation are treacherous and disloyal. I will not pull any punches in my description of this man whom I consider to be an absolutely despicable individual. This person lives in absolute splendour. Compare the way he lives with the way other Aboriginals live. Given all those inquiries and reports into the affairs of the NLC - and I would be really frightened if I were you because your fingerprints were all over it; cash advances were made on credit cards and all the rest - how you can come into this Chamber and defend such an individual is
beyond belief.
I do not retract a single thing that I said about that man. He cannot even stand in the shadow of someone like Gatjil Djerrkura. I want Territorians to know that you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yunupingu. I want them to be aware that his standards are your standards. I want Territorians to know that, in the unhappy event that you were ever to win an election, the hand of Yunupingu would be very much on the reins of government.
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Any kind of discussion that would seem to put the Country Liberal Party into disfavour was immediately
quashed very forcefully. The view was that we give too much money to the blackfellows - very anti-funding of
the Aboriginals, a waste of resources on the part of the government.
Some 48 hours later, the Chief Minister erupted with his now infamous tirade against all Aboriginal Territorians - `these people' as he calls them. Will he tell us whether the next election campaign is to be dictated entirely by his southern election advisers in this way, no matter how much it tears apart the fabric of the community or how irreparably it damages the Territory lifestyle?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, can I say firstly to the Leader of the Opposition that I do not have a southern pollster or ...
Mr Bailey: What about Mark Textor who comes up here ...
Mr STONE: You mention the name of Mark Textor. Have a look at the photograph taken on the day that self-government was granted, with Paul Everingham standing next to the
Page 1901
flag. Look across and there is a little kid from Nakara Primary School. That is Mark Textor. He also went to secondary school here. He is a Territorian and we are proud to call him one of ours. Don't come in here with your grubby, sleazy name-calling and belittle someone who has developed for himself an outstanding reputation as a pollster around the world.
Mr Bailey: And introduced push-polling and the other grubby tactics ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Chief Minister will resume his seat for a moment. The member for Wanguri is pushing my patience this morning. I ask him to desist from his incessant interjection.
Mr STONE: Mr Speaker, the focus groups that the Leader of the Opposition referred to were not being run for the Northern Territory government. They were being run using the entitlement of the Country Liberal Party administrative wing in the same way that the Labor Party conducted very extensive polling before Christmas. The ALP ran a very big poll. It is a legitimate function of political parties to do polling.
The member claimed that I erupted out of the blue and made my statements. I will tell her why I described Galarrwuy Yunupingu in the terms that I did. It was because I was prepared to stand up as an Australian and a Territorian and take issue with him about what he had to say at the National Press Club. If the Leader of the Opposition had any gumption, she too would have tackled him and said that people who want to go into international forums and bag this nation are treacherous and disloyal. I will not pull any punches in my description of this man whom I consider to be an absolutely despicable individual. This person lives in absolute splendour. Compare the way he lives with the way other Aboriginals live. Given all those inquiries and reports into the affairs of the NLC - and I would be really frightened if I were you because your fingerprints were all over it; cash advances were made on credit cards and all the rest - how you can come into this Chamber and defend such an individual is
beyond belief.
I do not retract a single thing that I said about that man. He cannot even stand in the shadow of someone like Gatjil Djerrkura. I want Territorians to know that you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yunupingu. I want them to be aware that his standards are your standards. I want Territorians to know that, in the unhappy event that you were ever to win an election, the hand of Yunupingu would be very much on the reins of government.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016