Mrs HICKEY - 1996-10-15
On 17 September, the Chief Minister told the Assembly that his invitation to the Atlanta Olympic Games was a gift from Telstra as `part of Telstra being a good corporate citizen to ensure as many Australians as possible had the opportunity to see for themselves what sort of a rub-off Australia might obtain from the Sydney Olympics'. That was reported at page 37 of Hansard. Telstra has refuted that explanation. In a recent letter to me, Telstra stated:
These invitations were made to strengthen the relationship between Telstra and a number of its more
important clients. The Northern Territory government is one such client and Mr Stone, as the Chief Minister,
is a key figure in our business dealings with that client.
I have decided that the documents were received or brought into existence in order to strengthen the
commercial relationship between Telstra and the Northern Territory government.
Mr Bailey: It is a bribe.
Mr STONE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I ask for that to be withdrawn.
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Mr SPEAKER: I ask the member to withdraw.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw, Mr Speaker.
Mrs HICKEY: I continue:
This was done in an attempt to ensure that Telstra
continues to provide its services to that government.
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the letter that I received from Telstra.
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Will the Chief Minister admit that he has a conflict of interest and that he is now in exactly the same position as was Jim Short?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is absolute nonsense.
Mr Stirling: It is Telstra's letter.
Mr STONE: It may be Telstra's letter. I do not dictate to it what it may or may not write.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Are you interested in the answer or do you want simply to continue the interjections across the floor? You get to your feet and bandy figures around, and you pluck $20 000 out of the air. You do not acknowledge the fact that we paid all our own ...
Mrs Hickey: You do not deny that you went on a trip that was paid for by Telstra, do you?
Mr STONE: There you go again. Are you interested in the answer or not?
Mrs Hickey: Yes.
Mr STONE: Why not be quiet then and listen because there are people who would like to hear the answer.
Mr Ah Kit: You are a bit sensitive now, Shane.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Once again, there is far too much chatter from the opposition benches. I ask members to refrain from chattering and to allow the Chief Minister to answer the question.
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Mr Bell: The Chief Minister has nothing to say.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: As I was saying, even though the opposition knows about it, there is never any acknowledgement that we paid ourselves for all our air fares within Australia, and we paid all our own accommodation costs in Atlanta, which was a very substantial amount. I do not care what is in the letter. I can table documents which demonstrate ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Obviously, she is not prepared to give people a fair go to tell their side of the story. Let me make it clear to her that, as I understand it, I was 1 of only 2 people invited from around Australia who made that contribution. A whole package was offered, and it was refused. The Leader of the Opposition should not give me this nonsense. If she thinks this represents such an enormous conflict of interest, why has she not been running it against federal MPs who accepted similar packages from other companies, including media outlets, to go to Atlanta? Her problem is that she has double standards.
We have seen examples of her double standards. We saw examples of her double standards last week. When irrefutable evidence concerning an incident was put to her by a third party - a former Assistant Commissioner of Police - and subsequently backed up by the victim, an Aboriginal woman, she still did not have the guts to get to her feet and say that what had happened was wrong. She should have apologised, and given the undertaking that such behaviour would not occur again. She has no credibility when she comes into this parliament and tries to dress something up like this. I can tell her now that, regardless of what Telstra may write in a letter, if she thinks that I am so cheap that I can be bought in that way ...
Mr Stirling: Yes.
Mr STONE: ... she obviously does not know me.
Let me point out to Syd Vicious who continues to interject across the Chamber ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the Chief Minister please resume his seat. The member for Nhulunbuy is also on warning.
Mr STONE: To this day, my phones are Optus, and that is the best defence that I have to any suggestion that I have ever fiddled around with any commercial arrangements.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: You may laugh but, if you think that I could be compromised on the basis of an air fare ...
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Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Wanguri.
Mr STONE: ... then I would say that a couple of members opposite have also accepted air fares, and some have also accepted cash payments and they are absolutely compromised. If you intend to apply this standard to me, apply it to those who sit with you on that side.
Mrs Hickey: You are a minister of the Crown.
Mr STONE: I see. The interjection from the Leader of the Opposition is that it is different because we are the government and they are the opposition. Let me say this. If that is their line, they will be there for a long time.
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These invitations were made to strengthen the relationship between Telstra and a number of its more
important clients. The Northern Territory government is one such client and Mr Stone, as the Chief Minister,
is a key figure in our business dealings with that client.
I have decided that the documents were received or brought into existence in order to strengthen the
commercial relationship between Telstra and the Northern Territory government.
Mr Bailey: It is a bribe.
Mr STONE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I ask for that to be withdrawn.
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Mr SPEAKER: I ask the member to withdraw.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw, Mr Speaker.
Mrs HICKEY: I continue:
This was done in an attempt to ensure that Telstra
continues to provide its services to that government.
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the letter that I received from Telstra.
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Will the Chief Minister admit that he has a conflict of interest and that he is now in exactly the same position as was Jim Short?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is absolute nonsense.
Mr Stirling: It is Telstra's letter.
Mr STONE: It may be Telstra's letter. I do not dictate to it what it may or may not write.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Are you interested in the answer or do you want simply to continue the interjections across the floor? You get to your feet and bandy figures around, and you pluck $20 000 out of the air. You do not acknowledge the fact that we paid all our own ...
Mrs Hickey: You do not deny that you went on a trip that was paid for by Telstra, do you?
Mr STONE: There you go again. Are you interested in the answer or not?
Mrs Hickey: Yes.
Mr STONE: Why not be quiet then and listen because there are people who would like to hear the answer.
Mr Ah Kit: You are a bit sensitive now, Shane.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Once again, there is far too much chatter from the opposition benches. I ask members to refrain from chattering and to allow the Chief Minister to answer the question.
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Mr Bell: The Chief Minister has nothing to say.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: As I was saying, even though the opposition knows about it, there is never any acknowledgement that we paid ourselves for all our air fares within Australia, and we paid all our own accommodation costs in Atlanta, which was a very substantial amount. I do not care what is in the letter. I can table documents which demonstrate ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Obviously, she is not prepared to give people a fair go to tell their side of the story. Let me make it clear to her that, as I understand it, I was 1 of only 2 people invited from around Australia who made that contribution. A whole package was offered, and it was refused. The Leader of the Opposition should not give me this nonsense. If she thinks this represents such an enormous conflict of interest, why has she not been running it against federal MPs who accepted similar packages from other companies, including media outlets, to go to Atlanta? Her problem is that she has double standards.
We have seen examples of her double standards. We saw examples of her double standards last week. When irrefutable evidence concerning an incident was put to her by a third party - a former Assistant Commissioner of Police - and subsequently backed up by the victim, an Aboriginal woman, she still did not have the guts to get to her feet and say that what had happened was wrong. She should have apologised, and given the undertaking that such behaviour would not occur again. She has no credibility when she comes into this parliament and tries to dress something up like this. I can tell her now that, regardless of what Telstra may write in a letter, if she thinks that I am so cheap that I can be bought in that way ...
Mr Stirling: Yes.
Mr STONE: ... she obviously does not know me.
Let me point out to Syd Vicious who continues to interject across the Chamber ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the Chief Minister please resume his seat. The member for Nhulunbuy is also on warning.
Mr STONE: To this day, my phones are Optus, and that is the best defence that I have to any suggestion that I have ever fiddled around with any commercial arrangements.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: You may laugh but, if you think that I could be compromised on the basis of an air fare ...
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Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Wanguri.
Mr STONE: ... then I would say that a couple of members opposite have also accepted air fares, and some have also accepted cash payments and they are absolutely compromised. If you intend to apply this standard to me, apply it to those who sit with you on that side.
Mrs Hickey: You are a minister of the Crown.
Mr STONE: I see. The interjection from the Leader of the Opposition is that it is different because we are the government and they are the opposition. Let me say this. If that is their line, they will be there for a long time.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016