Ms LAWRIE - 2001-10-17
Is the Treasurer aware of comments made by former CLP Treasurer, Senator Grant Tambling, at the Darwin Press Club recently?
Mr Burke: Treasurer? When was he ever Treasurer? Was he Treasurer?
ANSWER
I don’t know, Grant is many things, but he is no longer a member of the CLP, I suspect.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: He had a few kind things to say about you. I thought we would have a look at some of the comments that Grant Tambling had to make about the previous administration, and exactly what he thought of you. I think some of you were there when Grant Tambling addressed the Press Club on 11 October. He said, about your financial management: ‘Four years ago the CLP had a balanced budget, money in the bank, railway reserves and glowing economic prospects.’ So, for a moment, Grant was on your side, going well.
He went on to say: ‘We now have an unbalanced budget … Hey, an unbalanced budget! ‘… an unbalanced budget requiring dramatic surgery, no money in the bank and prospects shot to hell’. The truth is that the previous government left the budget in tatters. The budget has got a hole in it bigger than Burke’s backyard. These are Grant Tambling’s own words - an insider, a long term member of the CLP. He said: ‘The previous Treasurer and Chief Minister oversaw the deficit and dissipation of the Conditions of Service Trust amount to hundreds of millions of dollars’. He said, and rightly so: ‘It left the Northern Territory no fall back position, no cash and no insurance against the loss of jobs from unforeseen circumstances’, and he mentioned the Ansett collapse and the 11 September disaster.
That is a solid condemnation from the mouth of one of the opposition’s own. They have to wear it, and it must hurt, and we are seeing the squirming that takes place. Evidence that the opposition created a budget black hole when they were in government is contained in Professor Percy Allan’s report, and now given a tick by one of your own. It is recommended reading for all Territorians, and I thoroughly recommend it to the opposition. It is very sad that the Opposition Leader would not take the opportunity to have a briefing. At any time you want that briefing, Professor Percy Allan is available, because this is an independent and very expert assessment of how the Territory budget was left by you, bequeathed to Territorians.
It really is a shame that the Opposition Leader would not take that briefing, because I believe he would have learned a lot from it. He would have learned what Territorians now know, that there is a huge hole in the last budget, and it is as big a hole as is the one in the opposition’s credibility.
Mr Burke: You claimed that it was twice as big at the budget reply long before the elections. So do not show surprise now. Go to the Hansard and read your own words.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms MARTIN: $12m was the forward estimate that you put in the budget papers.
Mr Burke: What did you claimed $153m in the budget reply.
Ms MARTIN: Oh, it was just a joke, was it? Perpetrate a little joke on Territorians: ‘Whoops, did we give you the wrong figure?’. It is defrauding Territorians, it is a misrepresentation. It is a black hole, it is what you bequeathed to Territorians. I table a copy of Senator Tambling’s speech notes. I think they will make very interesting reading for the opposition.
Mr Burke: Treasurer? When was he ever Treasurer? Was he Treasurer?
ANSWER
I don’t know, Grant is many things, but he is no longer a member of the CLP, I suspect.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: He had a few kind things to say about you. I thought we would have a look at some of the comments that Grant Tambling had to make about the previous administration, and exactly what he thought of you. I think some of you were there when Grant Tambling addressed the Press Club on 11 October. He said, about your financial management: ‘Four years ago the CLP had a balanced budget, money in the bank, railway reserves and glowing economic prospects.’ So, for a moment, Grant was on your side, going well.
He went on to say: ‘We now have an unbalanced budget … Hey, an unbalanced budget! ‘… an unbalanced budget requiring dramatic surgery, no money in the bank and prospects shot to hell’. The truth is that the previous government left the budget in tatters. The budget has got a hole in it bigger than Burke’s backyard. These are Grant Tambling’s own words - an insider, a long term member of the CLP. He said: ‘The previous Treasurer and Chief Minister oversaw the deficit and dissipation of the Conditions of Service Trust amount to hundreds of millions of dollars’. He said, and rightly so: ‘It left the Northern Territory no fall back position, no cash and no insurance against the loss of jobs from unforeseen circumstances’, and he mentioned the Ansett collapse and the 11 September disaster.
That is a solid condemnation from the mouth of one of the opposition’s own. They have to wear it, and it must hurt, and we are seeing the squirming that takes place. Evidence that the opposition created a budget black hole when they were in government is contained in Professor Percy Allan’s report, and now given a tick by one of your own. It is recommended reading for all Territorians, and I thoroughly recommend it to the opposition. It is very sad that the Opposition Leader would not take the opportunity to have a briefing. At any time you want that briefing, Professor Percy Allan is available, because this is an independent and very expert assessment of how the Territory budget was left by you, bequeathed to Territorians.
It really is a shame that the Opposition Leader would not take that briefing, because I believe he would have learned a lot from it. He would have learned what Territorians now know, that there is a huge hole in the last budget, and it is as big a hole as is the one in the opposition’s credibility.
Mr Burke: You claimed that it was twice as big at the budget reply long before the elections. So do not show surprise now. Go to the Hansard and read your own words.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms MARTIN: $12m was the forward estimate that you put in the budget papers.
Mr Burke: What did you claimed $153m in the budget reply.
Ms MARTIN: Oh, it was just a joke, was it? Perpetrate a little joke on Territorians: ‘Whoops, did we give you the wrong figure?’. It is defrauding Territorians, it is a misrepresentation. It is a black hole, it is what you bequeathed to Territorians. I table a copy of Senator Tambling’s speech notes. I think they will make very interesting reading for the opposition.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016