Mrs HICKEY - 1996-02-22
After the 1987 election, when the Minister for Education and Training was Chief Minister, he dumped Nick Dondas from his ministry. Why did the Minister for Education and Training believe that Mr Dondas was not capable of holding a ministry?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am more than happy to answer this question. I did not think Nick Dondas was incapable of being a minister - quite the contrary. The difficulty that always faces leaders of government is in looking at the talent that they have available to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HATTON: They are really very rude, Mr Speaker.
Unfortunately, Nick missed out in that ministry because we brought Marshall Perron back in. Marshall Perron went on to become Chief Minister - and was an excellent Chief Minister.
Mr Bailey: After shafting Hatton.
Mr HATTON: You get that, don't you? I notice you are not sitting next to Brian any longer. You cannot even hold the deputy leadership in opposition.
Mr Ede: You cannot hold the deputy's job either.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I have been a minister throughout my parliamentary career. The Leader of the Opposition has been a pretend one.
Mr Ede: You have not.
Mr HATTON: My apologies - I missed 15 months. Okay, I have been a minister for 11 years.
I will go through some of the initiatives introduced by Nick Dondas that members opposite rubbish. It was the initiative of Nick Dondas, as Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation, that built the massive and brilliant sports facilities in the Northern Territory, regarded nationally as some of the best in Australia. He introduced that whole program of sports support in the Northern Territory which has become the envy of the rest of Australia.
Are members aware that he was also the minister who introduced the Aboriginal health worker system to Australia? Are members aware that he was the minister who introduced the community government concept into Australia?
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Mr Ede: And you sacked him!
Mr HATTON: I did not sack him. It is a sad problem when you have to make a choice of ministers. It so happened that, in that particular instance, Nick missed out. However, he went on to serve with great distinction as Speaker of this House.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am more than happy to answer this question. I did not think Nick Dondas was incapable of being a minister - quite the contrary. The difficulty that always faces leaders of government is in looking at the talent that they have available to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HATTON: They are really very rude, Mr Speaker.
Unfortunately, Nick missed out in that ministry because we brought Marshall Perron back in. Marshall Perron went on to become Chief Minister - and was an excellent Chief Minister.
Mr Bailey: After shafting Hatton.
Mr HATTON: You get that, don't you? I notice you are not sitting next to Brian any longer. You cannot even hold the deputy leadership in opposition.
Mr Ede: You cannot hold the deputy's job either.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, I have been a minister throughout my parliamentary career. The Leader of the Opposition has been a pretend one.
Mr Ede: You have not.
Mr HATTON: My apologies - I missed 15 months. Okay, I have been a minister for 11 years.
I will go through some of the initiatives introduced by Nick Dondas that members opposite rubbish. It was the initiative of Nick Dondas, as Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation, that built the massive and brilliant sports facilities in the Northern Territory, regarded nationally as some of the best in Australia. He introduced that whole program of sports support in the Northern Territory which has become the envy of the rest of Australia.
Are members aware that he was also the minister who introduced the Aboriginal health worker system to Australia? Are members aware that he was the minister who introduced the community government concept into Australia?
Page 1197
Mr Ede: And you sacked him!
Mr HATTON: I did not sack him. It is a sad problem when you have to make a choice of ministers. It so happened that, in that particular instance, Nick missed out. However, he went on to serve with great distinction as Speaker of this House.
Page 1198
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016