Mr BAILEY - 1995-11-28
I refer the minister to a series of questions, which I sent to him last week, relating to the purchase of wheelchairs from Modular Medical Products. The following failings in regard to that purchase were outlined in a PAC document. It showed that no requisition for supplies was provided, no official government order was raised, no certificate of exemption from tendering was issued, no notification was given to the Supply and Tender Board, and no notice of that purchase was published in the NT Government Gazette. Did the Auditor-General write to the departmental secretary advising him of this list of failings? Who were the minister and the secretary at the time when these failings were identified? Were any of these failings rectified?
Mr SPEAKER: The Minister for Education and Training.
Mr Ede: Have you forgotten about that portfolio?
Mr HATTON: Yes, I did actually.
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Mr Bailey: Do you want me to read it again?
Mr HATTON: I ask the member to repeat the question because I must admit that I missed it. I tend not to listen to the member for Wanguri. He is so repetitive.
Mr BAILEY: I hope the minister is back from his honeymoon and is awake now. I referred the minister to a series of questions which I sent to him over a week ago. They relate to the purchase of Modular Medical Products wheelchairs. I referred specifically to the list of failures in the purchase procedure as identified by the Public Accounts Committee in that no requisition for supplies was provided, no official government order was raised, no certificate of exemption from tendering was issued, no notification was given to the Supply and Tender Board, and no notice of that purchase was published in the NT Government Gazette. Did the Auditor-General write to the departmental secretary advising him of this list of failings? Who was the minister and who was the secretary at the time when these failings were notified? Were any of these failings rectified?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is interesting. Last week, or the week before last, the member sent me a list of the questions he intended to ask during these sittings. He has just changed the questions. That is okay.
Mr Bailey: No.
Mrs Hickey: This is questions without notice.
Mr HATTON: This particular subject is becoming a little boring and repetitive, given that it has been debated and that there have been extensive hearings before the Public Accounts Committee. The member for Wanguri is a member of the PAC and participated quite actively in those hearings. A multitude of questions have been dealt with in the Assembly. He asked me a series of specific questions at the last sittings. Substantially, they dealt with exactly the matters that he is asking about now, and he received precise answers at the time.
Mr Bailey: No.
Mr HATTON: I refer him to those answers, which are recorded in the Parliamentary Record.
He asks such mind-boggling questions as `who was the minister at the time and who was the departmental secretary'.
Mr Bailey: Yes.
Mr HATTON: As if he does not know.
Mr Bailey: No. I asked you whether the Auditor-General ...
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Mr HATTON: The purpose of questions without notice asked in Question Time is to elicit facts - presumably facts that are not known already to the member so that we do not waste the time of this parliament with nonsense and wish lists.
At that particular time, the Secretary of the Department of Education was Mr Geoff Spring and the Minister for Education and Training was Hon Shane Stone. That is a matter of public record.
Mr Bailey: You are wrong! You are misleading parliament!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: In 1991?
Mr Bailey: Did the Auditor-General write to the secretary of the department, advising him of those failures? When did he write? When did the Auditor-General ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Palmer: What is he on about?
Mr HATTON: I told him that I have not answered that yet.
Mr Stone: He has not got to that part yet.
Mr Bailey: That is what the question is. He is not answering the question.
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, because the ...
Mr Bailey: Do not mislead parliament ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Manzie: You even have the answers to those ...
Mr HATTON: Since he seems to know what the answers are, I do not know why I am bothering to answer the question at all.
Mr Bailey: Because the parliament and the public record need to know.
Mr HATTON: Is that right? I will do what I did the last time. The member for Wanguri has an incredible track record of running matters at the boundaries of privilege and then trying to make precise moment of these matters. Therefore, I will obtain precise answers to the precise questions that the member for Wanguri has asked, because they are very different to the questions he referred to me 2 weeks ago. I will answer these questions during the course of this week's sittings.
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Mr SPEAKER: The Minister for Education and Training.
Mr Ede: Have you forgotten about that portfolio?
Mr HATTON: Yes, I did actually.
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Mr Bailey: Do you want me to read it again?
Mr HATTON: I ask the member to repeat the question because I must admit that I missed it. I tend not to listen to the member for Wanguri. He is so repetitive.
Mr BAILEY: I hope the minister is back from his honeymoon and is awake now. I referred the minister to a series of questions which I sent to him over a week ago. They relate to the purchase of Modular Medical Products wheelchairs. I referred specifically to the list of failures in the purchase procedure as identified by the Public Accounts Committee in that no requisition for supplies was provided, no official government order was raised, no certificate of exemption from tendering was issued, no notification was given to the Supply and Tender Board, and no notice of that purchase was published in the NT Government Gazette. Did the Auditor-General write to the departmental secretary advising him of this list of failings? Who was the minister and who was the secretary at the time when these failings were notified? Were any of these failings rectified?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is interesting. Last week, or the week before last, the member sent me a list of the questions he intended to ask during these sittings. He has just changed the questions. That is okay.
Mr Bailey: No.
Mrs Hickey: This is questions without notice.
Mr HATTON: This particular subject is becoming a little boring and repetitive, given that it has been debated and that there have been extensive hearings before the Public Accounts Committee. The member for Wanguri is a member of the PAC and participated quite actively in those hearings. A multitude of questions have been dealt with in the Assembly. He asked me a series of specific questions at the last sittings. Substantially, they dealt with exactly the matters that he is asking about now, and he received precise answers at the time.
Mr Bailey: No.
Mr HATTON: I refer him to those answers, which are recorded in the Parliamentary Record.
He asks such mind-boggling questions as `who was the minister at the time and who was the departmental secretary'.
Mr Bailey: Yes.
Mr HATTON: As if he does not know.
Mr Bailey: No. I asked you whether the Auditor-General ...
Page 1061
Mr HATTON: The purpose of questions without notice asked in Question Time is to elicit facts - presumably facts that are not known already to the member so that we do not waste the time of this parliament with nonsense and wish lists.
At that particular time, the Secretary of the Department of Education was Mr Geoff Spring and the Minister for Education and Training was Hon Shane Stone. That is a matter of public record.
Mr Bailey: You are wrong! You are misleading parliament!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: In 1991?
Mr Bailey: Did the Auditor-General write to the secretary of the department, advising him of those failures? When did he write? When did the Auditor-General ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Palmer: What is he on about?
Mr HATTON: I told him that I have not answered that yet.
Mr Stone: He has not got to that part yet.
Mr Bailey: That is what the question is. He is not answering the question.
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, because the ...
Mr Bailey: Do not mislead parliament ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Manzie: You even have the answers to those ...
Mr HATTON: Since he seems to know what the answers are, I do not know why I am bothering to answer the question at all.
Mr Bailey: Because the parliament and the public record need to know.
Mr HATTON: Is that right? I will do what I did the last time. The member for Wanguri has an incredible track record of running matters at the boundaries of privilege and then trying to make precise moment of these matters. Therefore, I will obtain precise answers to the precise questions that the member for Wanguri has asked, because they are very different to the questions he referred to me 2 weeks ago. I will answer these questions during the course of this week's sittings.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016