Mr MITCHELL - 1995-08-16
Recently, the member for Fannie Bay was quoted on radio as having claimed responsibility for an initiative announced by the government earlier this year as part of the tourism program Discovering Darwin. Does the member for Fannie Bay's attempt to rewrite history differ from the reality of the situation?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously the member for Millner is a little more concerned about who should receive the credit for the hard work that has been done in relation to the future of Darwin. I refer to activities undertaken to ensure that our heritage is recognised and that the attention of residents and visitors is drawn to places of interest in the city. The member for Millner is concerned that those who should receive the credit are the people who were the driving force behind this program: the Darwin City Council, the Darwin Region Tourism Association, the Conservation Commission, the Department of Transport and Works, the Darwin Port Authority and the Museums and Art Galleries.
As a new member of this House, clearly the member for Fannie Bay has become a student in the school of `taking credit after the event' run by members opposite. We have reached the stage now where ownership of some of these programs is being claimed retrospectively, and that is precisely what the member for Fannie Bay did when I announced, in a media release issued on 8 August, that the government was putting in place a consultant to further develop the Territory government's tourism development strategy. In relation to my announcement, the member for Fannie Bay said:
I am delighted the government is going to recognise the heritage value of Ross Smith Avenue. It was an issue I
personally raised during the by-election and one that had a lot of public popular support - to recognise its
place in our aviation history and to properly define that and landscape it. Full support to the government
for picking up my idea.
The member for Fannie Bay nods her approval of her words about the government picking up her idea.
All that would be bad enough if the member for Fannie Bay were ignorant of the history of this matter, but she is not. At the time when the Minister for Tourism made an announcement in February this year, in relation to this strategy and the activities that were to be pursued under it, what was the member for Fannie Bay doing? She was reading the ABC news.
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Mr Coulter: My press release about Ross Smith Avenue.
Mr REED: Precisely. She would be aware of the Minister for Tourism's February press release about Ross Smith Avenue.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr REED: Who read it on the ABC news on 13 February? The present member for Fannie Bay!
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr Stirling: Margaret Lyons did not know what you were talking about.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: If the member for Fannie Bay wants to make her mark in politics and fairly represent the people of her electorate, she should be a little more honest. She should let credit be given to those who are doing the work.
Members would be aware of the penchant of Labor members for criticising public servants and not giving due recognition to their efforts. This is another example of that and this time by a member who has been in the House only a little time. I suspect that it will be only a matter of moments before we hear that the member for Fannie Bay has fire in her belly. She will attend the class of the member for Barkly. She may no longer be Ms Nice Guy. However, whatever else she proposes to be, I ask her to be honest with Territorians, to tell the truth and not to claim ownership retrospectively for activities that she herself announced on ABC radio. She should recognise the efforts of Territory public servants and community-based organisations who have put a great deal of work into progressing the matter for which she now claims credit.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously the member for Millner is a little more concerned about who should receive the credit for the hard work that has been done in relation to the future of Darwin. I refer to activities undertaken to ensure that our heritage is recognised and that the attention of residents and visitors is drawn to places of interest in the city. The member for Millner is concerned that those who should receive the credit are the people who were the driving force behind this program: the Darwin City Council, the Darwin Region Tourism Association, the Conservation Commission, the Department of Transport and Works, the Darwin Port Authority and the Museums and Art Galleries.
As a new member of this House, clearly the member for Fannie Bay has become a student in the school of `taking credit after the event' run by members opposite. We have reached the stage now where ownership of some of these programs is being claimed retrospectively, and that is precisely what the member for Fannie Bay did when I announced, in a media release issued on 8 August, that the government was putting in place a consultant to further develop the Territory government's tourism development strategy. In relation to my announcement, the member for Fannie Bay said:
I am delighted the government is going to recognise the heritage value of Ross Smith Avenue. It was an issue I
personally raised during the by-election and one that had a lot of public popular support - to recognise its
place in our aviation history and to properly define that and landscape it. Full support to the government
for picking up my idea.
The member for Fannie Bay nods her approval of her words about the government picking up her idea.
All that would be bad enough if the member for Fannie Bay were ignorant of the history of this matter, but she is not. At the time when the Minister for Tourism made an announcement in February this year, in relation to this strategy and the activities that were to be pursued under it, what was the member for Fannie Bay doing? She was reading the ABC news.
Page 708
Mr Coulter: My press release about Ross Smith Avenue.
Mr REED: Precisely. She would be aware of the Minister for Tourism's February press release about Ross Smith Avenue.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr REED: Who read it on the ABC news on 13 February? The present member for Fannie Bay!
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr Stirling: Margaret Lyons did not know what you were talking about.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: If the member for Fannie Bay wants to make her mark in politics and fairly represent the people of her electorate, she should be a little more honest. She should let credit be given to those who are doing the work.
Members would be aware of the penchant of Labor members for criticising public servants and not giving due recognition to their efforts. This is another example of that and this time by a member who has been in the House only a little time. I suspect that it will be only a matter of moments before we hear that the member for Fannie Bay has fire in her belly. She will attend the class of the member for Barkly. She may no longer be Ms Nice Guy. However, whatever else she proposes to be, I ask her to be honest with Territorians, to tell the truth and not to claim ownership retrospectively for activities that she herself announced on ABC radio. She should recognise the efforts of Territory public servants and community-based organisations who have put a great deal of work into progressing the matter for which she now claims credit.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016