Mr ADAMSON - 1997-04-24
Can he confirm that the Labor Party in the Northern Territory is receiving financial assistance from the ALP's New South Wales branch to fund a Clayton's election campaign in the Northern Territory - that is, an election campaign conducted when no election date has actually been announced?
Page 2054
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Labor Party in the Territory endeavours to convey to Territorians that somehow it is a homegrown, local product. However, we all know that every branch or division of the Labor Party around Australia essentially takes its instructions from Canberra. That is the nature of the organisation.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Members opposite may groan, but it is a fact. What better example of that could there be than that provided yesterday in the debate on law and order issues? We were informed of a policy, promulgated by the Labor Party, that, in the event that Aboriginal people are taken into custody, they be detained only for 2 hours, but that other Australians may be detained for up to 4 hours. It is those sort of policies which are promulgated at a national level and are fed through into the state and territory branches. Any attempt by the Labor Party in the Territory to make out that it has some degree of independence, that it is running its own show, or that it is really here for Territorians, is absolutely flawed. It is important that Territorians understand that the leader of the ALP in the Territory receives her instructions from interstate.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: While the member for Arnhem may consider that a matter for mirth, it is actually rather tragic that the Labor Party has never had the capacity to stand up for Territorians. It relies on people in the south not only for its advice, but also for its money. Of course, this was all clearly exposed on the Fred McCue program on 19 March when the Leader of the Opposition was being interviewed ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: ... by Fred McCue. If the member for Arnhem will be quiet, I will read the transcript. I am sure that people listening to this broadcast will be vitally interested to hear it. The reporter ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: Look, I realise this is embarrassing for you. However, if you think you are going to talk over the top of me and prevent Territorians hearing the truth about you lot, and the fact that you take all your instructions from down south, then you are mistaken. This is the report of Fred McCue:
Reporter: All right, Maggie Hickey. All right, Maggie Hickey. I guess, as becomes obvious, you're speaking
to us on a mobile.
Hickey: Yes.
Reporter: You're in Sydney at the moment. What are you doing there?
Page 2055
Hickey: Yes, I'm in Sydney, Fred. I've got a series of meetings with people, party people and so forth, and
some of those are very interested in the carriage of this particular piece of legislation. I will be
talking to people about that today.
Reporter: Has your presence in Sydney got anything to do with a Labor Party fund-raiser that is being held?
Hickey: Yes, it has. Indeed, yes. That's one element of it, Fred, that they are holding a fund-raiser for
the Labor Party and that's going on at lunchtime today.
Reporter: A bit strapped for cash, are you?
She was not very forthcoming. It had to be dragged out of the Leader of the Opposition like drawing hen's teeth.
I have a question that I would like the Leader of the Opposition to answer at some stage, even if it is by way of a personal explanation at the end of Question Time. Did she use a taxpayer-funded air fare to go to Sydney to attend a fund-raiser for the Labor Party? If she used her own resources, she should stand up and say so.
Mrs Hickey: Yes.
Mr STONE: Will she also indicate who else she met with in the time that she was in Sydney?
Mrs Hickey: I am happy to.
Mr STONE: Can she explain why she did not take the extra 40 minutes to travel to Canberra at a time when the Senate was debating the Andrews bill, at a time when other Territory representatives, including myself, were there with Bob Collins and Grant Tambling? Territorians would like to know why she rated a fund-raiser for the Labor Party in Sydney ahead of being in Canberra to join in the battle to fight the passage of the Andrews bill. It is a simple question and it deserves a simple answer. All she had to do was find that extra 40 minutes to take herself to Canberra. This is the very same person ...
Mrs Hickey: You are on thin ice on this one, Shane.
Mr STONE: You did not even turn up for presenting the Remonstrance. You told us Bob Collins would represent you. He came on the radio and said: `Oh no, not me!' It was left to my deputy, myself, Grant Tambling and Nick Dondas. We were there. The Labor Party in the ACT turned up, but there was no representation from the Labor Party in the Territory.
Mr Stirling: We did our job. The Labor Party ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy should calm down and take his tablets.
Page 2056
It is a simple question. I am sure Territorians would like to know why the Leader of the Opposition thought it was more important to go to an ALP fund-raiser in Sydney than to take the extra 40 minutes necessary to travel to Canberra to work with Grant Tambling, Bob Collins, Nick Dondas and myself in lobbying the Senate on that important issue.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: I have touched a raw nerve in the member for Nhulunbuy. He is a trifle upset over there. I realise he has been given the job this morning. Since John is out of the room, he has been given the job.
Mr Stirling: You fixed him up.
Mr STONE: I will pick up that interjection. He fixed himself up. For the record, he was not named during the course of the debate on the NAFC. He was named during debate on a ministerial statement in an argument about who was going to lunch and at what time. Let us get the record straight about just what happened. It had absolutely nothing to do with the censure motion.
The Leader of the Opposition owes an explanation to Territorians. Why did she rate a fund-raiser for the ALP in Sydney more important than travelling to Canberra to lobby the Senators?
Page 2057
Page 2054
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Labor Party in the Territory endeavours to convey to Territorians that somehow it is a homegrown, local product. However, we all know that every branch or division of the Labor Party around Australia essentially takes its instructions from Canberra. That is the nature of the organisation.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Members opposite may groan, but it is a fact. What better example of that could there be than that provided yesterday in the debate on law and order issues? We were informed of a policy, promulgated by the Labor Party, that, in the event that Aboriginal people are taken into custody, they be detained only for 2 hours, but that other Australians may be detained for up to 4 hours. It is those sort of policies which are promulgated at a national level and are fed through into the state and territory branches. Any attempt by the Labor Party in the Territory to make out that it has some degree of independence, that it is running its own show, or that it is really here for Territorians, is absolutely flawed. It is important that Territorians understand that the leader of the ALP in the Territory receives her instructions from interstate.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: While the member for Arnhem may consider that a matter for mirth, it is actually rather tragic that the Labor Party has never had the capacity to stand up for Territorians. It relies on people in the south not only for its advice, but also for its money. Of course, this was all clearly exposed on the Fred McCue program on 19 March when the Leader of the Opposition was being interviewed ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: ... by Fred McCue. If the member for Arnhem will be quiet, I will read the transcript. I am sure that people listening to this broadcast will be vitally interested to hear it. The reporter ...
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr STONE: Look, I realise this is embarrassing for you. However, if you think you are going to talk over the top of me and prevent Territorians hearing the truth about you lot, and the fact that you take all your instructions from down south, then you are mistaken. This is the report of Fred McCue:
Reporter: All right, Maggie Hickey. All right, Maggie Hickey. I guess, as becomes obvious, you're speaking
to us on a mobile.
Hickey: Yes.
Reporter: You're in Sydney at the moment. What are you doing there?
Page 2055
Hickey: Yes, I'm in Sydney, Fred. I've got a series of meetings with people, party people and so forth, and
some of those are very interested in the carriage of this particular piece of legislation. I will be
talking to people about that today.
Reporter: Has your presence in Sydney got anything to do with a Labor Party fund-raiser that is being held?
Hickey: Yes, it has. Indeed, yes. That's one element of it, Fred, that they are holding a fund-raiser for
the Labor Party and that's going on at lunchtime today.
Reporter: A bit strapped for cash, are you?
She was not very forthcoming. It had to be dragged out of the Leader of the Opposition like drawing hen's teeth.
I have a question that I would like the Leader of the Opposition to answer at some stage, even if it is by way of a personal explanation at the end of Question Time. Did she use a taxpayer-funded air fare to go to Sydney to attend a fund-raiser for the Labor Party? If she used her own resources, she should stand up and say so.
Mrs Hickey: Yes.
Mr STONE: Will she also indicate who else she met with in the time that she was in Sydney?
Mrs Hickey: I am happy to.
Mr STONE: Can she explain why she did not take the extra 40 minutes to travel to Canberra at a time when the Senate was debating the Andrews bill, at a time when other Territory representatives, including myself, were there with Bob Collins and Grant Tambling? Territorians would like to know why she rated a fund-raiser for the Labor Party in Sydney ahead of being in Canberra to join in the battle to fight the passage of the Andrews bill. It is a simple question and it deserves a simple answer. All she had to do was find that extra 40 minutes to take herself to Canberra. This is the very same person ...
Mrs Hickey: You are on thin ice on this one, Shane.
Mr STONE: You did not even turn up for presenting the Remonstrance. You told us Bob Collins would represent you. He came on the radio and said: `Oh no, not me!' It was left to my deputy, myself, Grant Tambling and Nick Dondas. We were there. The Labor Party in the ACT turned up, but there was no representation from the Labor Party in the Territory.
Mr Stirling: We did our job. The Labor Party ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy should calm down and take his tablets.
Page 2056
It is a simple question. I am sure Territorians would like to know why the Leader of the Opposition thought it was more important to go to an ALP fund-raiser in Sydney than to take the extra 40 minutes necessary to travel to Canberra to work with Grant Tambling, Bob Collins, Nick Dondas and myself in lobbying the Senate on that important issue.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: I have touched a raw nerve in the member for Nhulunbuy. He is a trifle upset over there. I realise he has been given the job this morning. Since John is out of the room, he has been given the job.
Mr Stirling: You fixed him up.
Mr STONE: I will pick up that interjection. He fixed himself up. For the record, he was not named during the course of the debate on the NAFC. He was named during debate on a ministerial statement in an argument about who was going to lunch and at what time. Let us get the record straight about just what happened. It had absolutely nothing to do with the censure motion.
The Leader of the Opposition owes an explanation to Territorians. Why did she rate a fund-raiser for the ALP in Sydney more important than travelling to Canberra to lobby the Senators?
Page 2057
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016