Mr BAILEY - 1995-03-02
The Chief Minister continues to maintain the fiction that he knows nothing about push-polling. He surely must concede that his party was the main beneficiary of this filthy tactic. Given that he is the minister with responsibility for electoral matters in the Northern Territory, he must be aware also that any payment in kind to a political party is disclosable and failure to disclose it is punishable under section 315 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act which provides for a fine of $10 000. Will the Chief Minister undertake to immediately investigate this matter and, if any irregularity is found, will he refer the matter to the Australian Electoral Commission?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the priorities of members opposite are amazing. This is the last day of the first sittings of the year. The ALP harps on about the government not tackling the real issues in the Territory yet what have members opposite done this morning? Every question that they have asked related to issues concerning the federal Electoral Act or whatever ...
Mr Ede: And your leadership.
Mr PERRON: The returns to the Electoral Office by political parties are submitted in extreme detail because of the requirements of the act. The ALP knows that because it has had to footnote its return. Every cent that goes to a political party, including the remote small branches, has to be accounted in and out, and not only in elections but for the entire process. All the administrative activities of all political parties are required now to be made public, courtesy of a federal law.
I understand that the Country Liberal Party has complied completely and absolutely with those requirements. If there are deficiencies, I am sure that, in its classic style, the Electoral Commission will pursue the CLP with great vigour. I would expect the same vigour to be directed at the Labor's Party poorly-constructed and very qualified reports to the Electoral Commission. It will be interesting to see how much money it spends on lawyers justifying its return compared to how much we spend on justifying the CLP's return. It will be interesting to note that in due course.
The question from the member for Wanguri is a nonsense. He knows that it is not my responsibility to hold inquiries into the compliance of Northern Territory political parties with federal legislation. It is the ALP federal government's requirement that political parties make these disclosures even though it is the expert at laundering money.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the priorities of members opposite are amazing. This is the last day of the first sittings of the year. The ALP harps on about the government not tackling the real issues in the Territory yet what have members opposite done this morning? Every question that they have asked related to issues concerning the federal Electoral Act or whatever ...
Mr Ede: And your leadership.
Mr PERRON: The returns to the Electoral Office by political parties are submitted in extreme detail because of the requirements of the act. The ALP knows that because it has had to footnote its return. Every cent that goes to a political party, including the remote small branches, has to be accounted in and out, and not only in elections but for the entire process. All the administrative activities of all political parties are required now to be made public, courtesy of a federal law.
I understand that the Country Liberal Party has complied completely and absolutely with those requirements. If there are deficiencies, I am sure that, in its classic style, the Electoral Commission will pursue the CLP with great vigour. I would expect the same vigour to be directed at the Labor's Party poorly-constructed and very qualified reports to the Electoral Commission. It will be interesting to see how much money it spends on lawyers justifying its return compared to how much we spend on justifying the CLP's return. It will be interesting to note that in due course.
The question from the member for Wanguri is a nonsense. He knows that it is not my responsibility to hold inquiries into the compliance of Northern Territory political parties with federal legislation. It is the ALP federal government's requirement that political parties make these disclosures even though it is the expert at laundering money.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016