Mr ADAMSON - 1997-02-26
This morning on ABC radio, including the Fred McCue show, Senator Collins claimed that the Chief Minister had referred to Senators who opposed the Territory euthanasia laws as `bastards and bitches'. From my recollection, his description of `bastards and bitches' was directed not towards Senators but at a select group of members of the House of Representatives who had spoken about the Territory and Territorians in less than favourable terms. Senator Collins also claimed that the Chief Minister's comments directed at Galarrwuy Yunupingu were in fact directed at all Aboriginal people. Will the Chief Minister clarify what remarks he made and why he made them?
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the members for Nhulunbuy and Wanguri interject. This is your day, fellows. You are in charge. This is the day on which you have the opportunity to demonstrate that, with your hand on the tiller, you can run the show. We have not had a single question
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from you so far and we are 20 minutes into Question Time. Are you a bit shy? This is your big chance, John. The member for Wanguri is in charge today.
I heard the news this morning and also the interview on the Fred McCue program. I have obtained a transcript from which I quote:
The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory says that every single member and Senator of the federal
parliament who does not agree with him is either `a bastard' or `a bitch'.
That is not what I said. I was referring to those members of the House of Representatives who spoke in the most demeaning and disparaging terms about Territorians. While members opposite may take issue with my language, let me tell them that the vast majority of Territorians do not take issue with my sentiments about people who come into the federal parliament and say that they know better than we do and make statements, as Mr Andrews did, in these terms: `Territories do not have rights - they have responsibilities'. That sort of statement is a real affront to Territorians. Everybody should be outraged by such comments.
I sat there and listened to that entire debate, and I heard one particular member talk in terms of our legislation in the Territory in this way:
It has been said many times before that the German doctors in the early 1930s who worked to have
euthanasia introduced, possibly for what they perceived to be the right reasons, were the precursors of
Holocaust.
We were being likened to Nazi Germany! Another member got to her feet and had this to say:
To put the issue in perspective, there are 98 000 people on the Territorial electoral roll. That figure
is somewhere between a good test match crowd and an Australian Rules football crowd at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground.
These are demeaning, disparaging things to say about Territorians. Of course, what they did not say in the debate was that the Territory led the nation in terms of engagement with the Asia-Pacific region and had been acknowledged for that good work. They did not say that, notwithstanding that there are only about 180 000 people in the Territory, those people export this year a value of $1400m. I invite those members of parliament who would write us off simply as a municipality in Melbourne and Sydney to show me a municipality that exports and contributes to the wealth of this country in the order of $1400m. Thus, I do not resile from what I had to say about those members of the House of Representatives. They deserved everything that they got.
I would have expected Bob Collins, a Senator for the Northern Territory, to be on his feet saying: `The Chief Minister is right - it is unacceptable'. What did he do? He ran away and launched his attack under cover of an adjournment debate in the Senate.
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Let us be clear about this. This is just the beginning of the dirty tricks file being run by the Labor Party, and it is running it out of Canberra. How do I know that? This shows how incompetent that lot are. They documented their little strategy in a fax. However, they misdialled it and it came to us. It was absolutely extraordinary! This was the dirty tricks campaign that was being hatched with `BJ'. I wonder who BJ may be. Of course, members opposite know exactly who he is. The fax set out in some detail the issues that were to be raised, including what the member for Arnhem now shows. That proves the point that members opposite are involved. However, they had to get Bob Collins to do it. They could not do it. They were not capable of doing it. They are incompetent. If they want to have a crack at me, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, their main political opponent, why do they not get up and do it in this Chamber? Why do they send Bob Collins off to do it in the Senate, under cover of darkness in an adjournment debate in Canberra - bagging a Territorian up here. They are an absolute disgrace. What is worse, they are incompetent - they sent the fax to us!
Let us have a look at Senator Bob Collins, the so-called champion of the Northern Territory. This is what else he had to say: `Let me tell you, when you are trying to win friends and influence people for the Territory down here in respect of getting the right result in the Senate ...' He was referring to his untiring efforts on behalf of Territorians. What nonsense! Senator Collins talks out of both sides of his mouth. Anybody who sat through the hearings of the Senate's Select Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs when it was here would have seen Bob Collins, this so-called champion of the Territory, working hand-in-glove with Senator Brian Harradine - probably one of the greatest critics of the Territory when it comes to this legislation. He revelled in it. A number of Labor Party people who were in the audience later said to me that they will never vote for that man again as long as they cast a vote in the Territory. They saw that, while he mouths the rhetoric of standing up for the Territory, he was aiding and abetting Senator Harradine to try to make Territorians and our legislation look small and inadequate. He was exposed. He would have done far better not to have come along and participated in those Senate committee hearings. Members opposite do not have to take it from me. They can ask some of their own party members who sat in the audience and watched his little performance. If he would do that here, what does he do in Canberra? How easy it is for him to walk around and say, `I am standing up for the Territory', while whispering out of the other side of his mouth to his colleagues, `Really, I don't care what happens with this legislation'. I suspect that that is exactly what he is doing.
As for his feigned concern about Mr Yunupingu ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem interjected: `You were referring to all blacks'. The truth is that I was not. I was referring to Mr Yunupingu. I was clearly referring to him and I was referring to his mates in the land council.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: If I were the member for Arnhem, I would be really quiet. In the time that he was director of the NLC, he used to run black staff meetings and white staff meetings. If he needs to be reminded, I direct him to the member for Millner who used to work for the NLC.
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When staff meetings were held, he was told he could not attend those meetings because he was white. That is the sort of racial relations and divisions that people like the member for Arnhem bring to this Chamber. He has one set of rules for himself, and another set of rules for others.
What I thought was really interesting about Bob Collins was his strident defence of a man whom he has, on other occasions, so publicly condemned. Going back as far as an adjournment debate when he was in the this Chamber on 22 November 1978, and it was a long adjournment debate ...
Mr Bailey: 1978? That is how far you had your staff go back through ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: I can take you right through the history of it. He has made quite a well-documented attack on Mr Yunupingu over time. However, I thought this was at least the beginning. I quote from the Parliamentary Record: `This rapid and sad deterioration in Galarrwuy Yunupingu's previously unsullied character of honesty and integrity can be pinpointed exactly'.
Mr Ah Kit: 19 years! God!
Mr STONE: Are we to believe he has been reformed? Are we to believe that the very same man who gets on the radio today and endeavours to defend this fellow has somehow resiled from what he had to say to this Chamber?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: They are very sensitive, and they ought to be. I know that there are members sitting opposite who share my view of Mr Yunupingu, but they do not have the courage to stand up and say so. There are members opposite who know that the way he conducts his affairs as chairman of the NLC is repulsive to most Aboriginal people. Let us be very clear about this. My remarks were directed at him and at him alone.
Mr Ah Kit: At all blacks.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem may interject ...
Mr Ah Kit: You said: `Just another whingeing ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: ...but that is not what the transcript says.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
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Mr STONE: ... him and his cronies in the NLC, all of whom have their snouts so deep in the trough it is a wonder they do not suffocate.
Page 1965
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the members for Nhulunbuy and Wanguri interject. This is your day, fellows. You are in charge. This is the day on which you have the opportunity to demonstrate that, with your hand on the tiller, you can run the show. We have not had a single question
Page 1961
from you so far and we are 20 minutes into Question Time. Are you a bit shy? This is your big chance, John. The member for Wanguri is in charge today.
I heard the news this morning and also the interview on the Fred McCue program. I have obtained a transcript from which I quote:
The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory says that every single member and Senator of the federal
parliament who does not agree with him is either `a bastard' or `a bitch'.
That is not what I said. I was referring to those members of the House of Representatives who spoke in the most demeaning and disparaging terms about Territorians. While members opposite may take issue with my language, let me tell them that the vast majority of Territorians do not take issue with my sentiments about people who come into the federal parliament and say that they know better than we do and make statements, as Mr Andrews did, in these terms: `Territories do not have rights - they have responsibilities'. That sort of statement is a real affront to Territorians. Everybody should be outraged by such comments.
I sat there and listened to that entire debate, and I heard one particular member talk in terms of our legislation in the Territory in this way:
It has been said many times before that the German doctors in the early 1930s who worked to have
euthanasia introduced, possibly for what they perceived to be the right reasons, were the precursors of
Holocaust.
We were being likened to Nazi Germany! Another member got to her feet and had this to say:
To put the issue in perspective, there are 98 000 people on the Territorial electoral roll. That figure
is somewhere between a good test match crowd and an Australian Rules football crowd at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground.
These are demeaning, disparaging things to say about Territorians. Of course, what they did not say in the debate was that the Territory led the nation in terms of engagement with the Asia-Pacific region and had been acknowledged for that good work. They did not say that, notwithstanding that there are only about 180 000 people in the Territory, those people export this year a value of $1400m. I invite those members of parliament who would write us off simply as a municipality in Melbourne and Sydney to show me a municipality that exports and contributes to the wealth of this country in the order of $1400m. Thus, I do not resile from what I had to say about those members of the House of Representatives. They deserved everything that they got.
I would have expected Bob Collins, a Senator for the Northern Territory, to be on his feet saying: `The Chief Minister is right - it is unacceptable'. What did he do? He ran away and launched his attack under cover of an adjournment debate in the Senate.
Page 1962
Let us be clear about this. This is just the beginning of the dirty tricks file being run by the Labor Party, and it is running it out of Canberra. How do I know that? This shows how incompetent that lot are. They documented their little strategy in a fax. However, they misdialled it and it came to us. It was absolutely extraordinary! This was the dirty tricks campaign that was being hatched with `BJ'. I wonder who BJ may be. Of course, members opposite know exactly who he is. The fax set out in some detail the issues that were to be raised, including what the member for Arnhem now shows. That proves the point that members opposite are involved. However, they had to get Bob Collins to do it. They could not do it. They were not capable of doing it. They are incompetent. If they want to have a crack at me, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, their main political opponent, why do they not get up and do it in this Chamber? Why do they send Bob Collins off to do it in the Senate, under cover of darkness in an adjournment debate in Canberra - bagging a Territorian up here. They are an absolute disgrace. What is worse, they are incompetent - they sent the fax to us!
Let us have a look at Senator Bob Collins, the so-called champion of the Northern Territory. This is what else he had to say: `Let me tell you, when you are trying to win friends and influence people for the Territory down here in respect of getting the right result in the Senate ...' He was referring to his untiring efforts on behalf of Territorians. What nonsense! Senator Collins talks out of both sides of his mouth. Anybody who sat through the hearings of the Senate's Select Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs when it was here would have seen Bob Collins, this so-called champion of the Territory, working hand-in-glove with Senator Brian Harradine - probably one of the greatest critics of the Territory when it comes to this legislation. He revelled in it. A number of Labor Party people who were in the audience later said to me that they will never vote for that man again as long as they cast a vote in the Territory. They saw that, while he mouths the rhetoric of standing up for the Territory, he was aiding and abetting Senator Harradine to try to make Territorians and our legislation look small and inadequate. He was exposed. He would have done far better not to have come along and participated in those Senate committee hearings. Members opposite do not have to take it from me. They can ask some of their own party members who sat in the audience and watched his little performance. If he would do that here, what does he do in Canberra? How easy it is for him to walk around and say, `I am standing up for the Territory', while whispering out of the other side of his mouth to his colleagues, `Really, I don't care what happens with this legislation'. I suspect that that is exactly what he is doing.
As for his feigned concern about Mr Yunupingu ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem interjected: `You were referring to all blacks'. The truth is that I was not. I was referring to Mr Yunupingu. I was clearly referring to him and I was referring to his mates in the land council.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: If I were the member for Arnhem, I would be really quiet. In the time that he was director of the NLC, he used to run black staff meetings and white staff meetings. If he needs to be reminded, I direct him to the member for Millner who used to work for the NLC.
Page 1963
When staff meetings were held, he was told he could not attend those meetings because he was white. That is the sort of racial relations and divisions that people like the member for Arnhem bring to this Chamber. He has one set of rules for himself, and another set of rules for others.
What I thought was really interesting about Bob Collins was his strident defence of a man whom he has, on other occasions, so publicly condemned. Going back as far as an adjournment debate when he was in the this Chamber on 22 November 1978, and it was a long adjournment debate ...
Mr Bailey: 1978? That is how far you had your staff go back through ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: I can take you right through the history of it. He has made quite a well-documented attack on Mr Yunupingu over time. However, I thought this was at least the beginning. I quote from the Parliamentary Record: `This rapid and sad deterioration in Galarrwuy Yunupingu's previously unsullied character of honesty and integrity can be pinpointed exactly'.
Mr Ah Kit: 19 years! God!
Mr STONE: Are we to believe he has been reformed? Are we to believe that the very same man who gets on the radio today and endeavours to defend this fellow has somehow resiled from what he had to say to this Chamber?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: They are very sensitive, and they ought to be. I know that there are members sitting opposite who share my view of Mr Yunupingu, but they do not have the courage to stand up and say so. There are members opposite who know that the way he conducts his affairs as chairman of the NLC is repulsive to most Aboriginal people. Let us be very clear about this. My remarks were directed at him and at him alone.
Mr Ah Kit: At all blacks.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem may interject ...
Mr Ah Kit: You said: `Just another whingeing ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: ...but that is not what the transcript says.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Page 1964
Mr STONE: ... him and his cronies in the NLC, all of whom have their snouts so deep in the trough it is a wonder they do not suffocate.
Page 1965
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016