Mr AH KIT - 1996-02-29
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a copy of the data shell from the Legislative Assembly RollData system.
Leave granted.
Page 1257
Mr AH KIT: As all members know, RollData is a system provided by the Country Liberal Party government to all members of parliament. This system provides all the information available from the Northern Territory Electoral Office and allows categories for items such as home ownership, ethnicity and political preference to be added by members. Yesterday the Chief Minister told ABC radio that he did not have access to that information. He said: `We do not have a list that identifies where you work, what your phone number is, what your fax number is - that targets, in fact, people who are not members of the ALP or the CLP'. Will the Chief Minister now tell Territorians that, in fact, every member of this Assembly has this system installed on their office computer?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I welcome the question because it provides me with an opportunity to make it very clear that this information shell, which I understand was worked up in cooperation with members on both sides, including members of the Labor Party who had an interest in developing the software - the member for Wanguri nods ...
Mr Bailey: But you make it sound like you did not know anything about it.
Mr STONE: Let me tell the member for Wanguri that I do not have it.
Mr Bailey: What do you have?
Mr STONE: I know that the member for Nightcliff does not have it. I have a system that I purchase independently, over and above my electoral entitlement. It is not that system. I do not keep that type of format on my computer. I understand that a number of other members do not either. Do not try to make out that only the CLP members are using this information. You are too.
The member for Arnhem is confusing what individual MPs may be doing as against what a party machine does. The document that was found in the Katherine pub after the drunken binge by the ALP campaign workers was a party document. It was not a document that belongs to members of the Legislative Assembly. I can tell the Leader of the Opposition that the CLP administration does not formulate those kinds of dossiers on Territorians. It is an appalling document. It identifies whether or not a person is a supporter of the ALP and whether they are a member. If you are a member of the ALP, you might not care. However, if you are not a member, you would be horrified to know that you name is on a list compiled by the ALP machine, indicating that you are not a supporter.
This shell, which your members helped to develop, is used by some members of this Assembly. I am not one of them.
Mr Bailey: But you denied any knowledge of it.
Mr STONE: I have my own system that I pay for. It is my money. I can do what I want with my money. I do not use that system. I am absolutely assured that, if government members of the Legislative Assembly are using it, they do not make it available to their administrative wing. I have no such assurance that that does not happen on your side because
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we now have the proof. The interesting thing is that members opposite did not jump up and say that the document is a forgery, that it is not genuine. They did not disclaim it. They admitted that it was the real thing.
Mr Ede: I am not like you. I tell the truth.
Mr STONE: You people are compiling dossiers.
Mr Ede: Did you expect me to say it was a forgery? That is what you would have done.
Mr STONE: When you were making allegations that someone had hacked into the computer etc, did you notice the copy that I tabled this morning? It has handwriting on it. Can you tell me how you can hack into a computer and obtain handwriting? You are in Disneyland. You are incompetent, you are lazy and you do not get your facts right. We saw the member for Arnhem who was about to table something that he was not supposed to table. We saw the Leader of the Opposition and his deputy spin around and say: `No, not that one!' I would like to know what he was going to table.
Mr Ede: Ask him.
Mr STONE: It was probably your own database. You do not use Poll Data. Is that right?
Mr Ede: I do not know what this Poll Data is that you are talking about.
Page 1259
Leave granted.
Page 1257
Mr AH KIT: As all members know, RollData is a system provided by the Country Liberal Party government to all members of parliament. This system provides all the information available from the Northern Territory Electoral Office and allows categories for items such as home ownership, ethnicity and political preference to be added by members. Yesterday the Chief Minister told ABC radio that he did not have access to that information. He said: `We do not have a list that identifies where you work, what your phone number is, what your fax number is - that targets, in fact, people who are not members of the ALP or the CLP'. Will the Chief Minister now tell Territorians that, in fact, every member of this Assembly has this system installed on their office computer?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I welcome the question because it provides me with an opportunity to make it very clear that this information shell, which I understand was worked up in cooperation with members on both sides, including members of the Labor Party who had an interest in developing the software - the member for Wanguri nods ...
Mr Bailey: But you make it sound like you did not know anything about it.
Mr STONE: Let me tell the member for Wanguri that I do not have it.
Mr Bailey: What do you have?
Mr STONE: I know that the member for Nightcliff does not have it. I have a system that I purchase independently, over and above my electoral entitlement. It is not that system. I do not keep that type of format on my computer. I understand that a number of other members do not either. Do not try to make out that only the CLP members are using this information. You are too.
The member for Arnhem is confusing what individual MPs may be doing as against what a party machine does. The document that was found in the Katherine pub after the drunken binge by the ALP campaign workers was a party document. It was not a document that belongs to members of the Legislative Assembly. I can tell the Leader of the Opposition that the CLP administration does not formulate those kinds of dossiers on Territorians. It is an appalling document. It identifies whether or not a person is a supporter of the ALP and whether they are a member. If you are a member of the ALP, you might not care. However, if you are not a member, you would be horrified to know that you name is on a list compiled by the ALP machine, indicating that you are not a supporter.
This shell, which your members helped to develop, is used by some members of this Assembly. I am not one of them.
Mr Bailey: But you denied any knowledge of it.
Mr STONE: I have my own system that I pay for. It is my money. I can do what I want with my money. I do not use that system. I am absolutely assured that, if government members of the Legislative Assembly are using it, they do not make it available to their administrative wing. I have no such assurance that that does not happen on your side because
Page 1258
we now have the proof. The interesting thing is that members opposite did not jump up and say that the document is a forgery, that it is not genuine. They did not disclaim it. They admitted that it was the real thing.
Mr Ede: I am not like you. I tell the truth.
Mr STONE: You people are compiling dossiers.
Mr Ede: Did you expect me to say it was a forgery? That is what you would have done.
Mr STONE: When you were making allegations that someone had hacked into the computer etc, did you notice the copy that I tabled this morning? It has handwriting on it. Can you tell me how you can hack into a computer and obtain handwriting? You are in Disneyland. You are incompetent, you are lazy and you do not get your facts right. We saw the member for Arnhem who was about to table something that he was not supposed to table. We saw the Leader of the Opposition and his deputy spin around and say: `No, not that one!' I would like to know what he was going to table.
Mr Ede: Ask him.
Mr STONE: It was probably your own database. You do not use Poll Data. Is that right?
Mr Ede: I do not know what this Poll Data is that you are talking about.
Page 1259
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016