Mr MALEY - 2001-10-18
Minister, what, if any, upgrade work is anticipated by the government on the Cullen Bay ferry terminal? How long will it take, and what arrangements are you going to put into place to ensure residents of Mandorah can travel to and from work with ease?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is very interesting to get these questions on the budget. As I said yesterday, I have no problems in finding the response for the member for Goyder. However, I find it a bit rich where they take humour from poking holes in their own budget, because that is what Territorians are starting to laugh about. You sit there and you put questions together, trying to stump the experts. What you are actually doing, you silly idiots, you are having a shot at your own budget. You need to understand that, because you put it together. You did it, it is your budget, and since we came into office, it is our budget. We have inherited their budget, and we are continually finding holes in the budget. The black hole is there, it is $107m and climbing. You people are responsible, you tried to deceive Northern Territorians before the election.
What happened was, it did not go to plan. What you wanted to do was to go into an election, con Territorians. I called the member for Katherine, the former Treasurer, a bodgie bookkeeper in the past, in this House, and I stand by that statement. He was the gentleman …
Mr Burke: We want to hear what you’re going to do.
Mr AH KIT: We will spend every cent that you left us. We will spend every cent that they left us. Every cent you left in the capital works budget, we will spend it on capital works. In fact, as I said this morning, we will spend an additional $21m in capital works - $21m more than what they spent last year. This is, of course, the programs where the cash is allocated to the projects. In many cases, a lot of promises were made but there was no cash allocated across. You can see the former Treasurer slinking in his chair, and he should be ashamed of himself, because the fellow on his right is also equally to blame. You are having a shot at your own budget, and we are cleaning up your mess.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I have to admit, minister, that you were not really addressing the question. There is some leeway today, but next you are asked a question, you really must try to make your answers as relevant as possible.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is very interesting to get these questions on the budget. As I said yesterday, I have no problems in finding the response for the member for Goyder. However, I find it a bit rich where they take humour from poking holes in their own budget, because that is what Territorians are starting to laugh about. You sit there and you put questions together, trying to stump the experts. What you are actually doing, you silly idiots, you are having a shot at your own budget. You need to understand that, because you put it together. You did it, it is your budget, and since we came into office, it is our budget. We have inherited their budget, and we are continually finding holes in the budget. The black hole is there, it is $107m and climbing. You people are responsible, you tried to deceive Northern Territorians before the election.
What happened was, it did not go to plan. What you wanted to do was to go into an election, con Territorians. I called the member for Katherine, the former Treasurer, a bodgie bookkeeper in the past, in this House, and I stand by that statement. He was the gentleman …
Mr Burke: We want to hear what you’re going to do.
Mr AH KIT: We will spend every cent that you left us. We will spend every cent that they left us. Every cent you left in the capital works budget, we will spend it on capital works. In fact, as I said this morning, we will spend an additional $21m in capital works - $21m more than what they spent last year. This is, of course, the programs where the cash is allocated to the projects. In many cases, a lot of promises were made but there was no cash allocated across. You can see the former Treasurer slinking in his chair, and he should be ashamed of himself, because the fellow on his right is also equally to blame. You are having a shot at your own budget, and we are cleaning up your mess.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I have to admit, minister, that you were not really addressing the question. There is some leeway today, but next you are asked a question, you really must try to make your answers as relevant as possible.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016