Mr STIRLING - 1996-10-16
Jim Short resigned his ministry because he held shares in a bank while decisions relating to the banking industry were his responsibility. Brian Gibson went the same way. The Deputy Chief Minister was Minister for Mines and Energy from July 1994 to 21 June 1996. He is now Treasurer. In both of these positions, he has made decisions that affect the mining industry. The Deputy Chief Minister holds shares in Enterprise Gold Mines, a company that holds interests in several gold exploration licence areas including Pine Creek in the Northern Territory. Will the Deputy Chief Minister follow the precedent set by Jim Short and Brian Gibson, both of whom resigned this week?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thought I had a list of my shareholdings here, but I must have returned it to my office yesterday. It was 2000 shares in Enterprise Gold Mines and, for many years, I have had a part ownership of a parcel of shares in some very small - in fact I think it too is out of business - Western Australian mining company. The best response I can give to the member for Nhulunbuy is that he would be well advised not to take my advice when buying shares.
In about 1986 or 1987, for some reason, a few people in Katherine, including myself, thought that it would be a good idea to invest in the Western Australian mining company and we bought a couple of thousand shares. I think it is defunct now. Enterprise Gold met a similar fate. I believe it has been wound up. In fact, I recall receiving letters notifying shareholders of the demise of the company over a period of years. I do not think the shares are listed any longer. Certainly, I receive no return from them. In respect of the opposition's ploy in seeking to chase these issues through and to pursue in this House a strategy that has been used by its Labor colleagues in Canberra, I ask if members opposite could please show some initiative. I ask the Leader of the Opposition or, as I referred to her yesterday, the follower of the opposition, to try to encourage her crew to be a little more innovative and to come up with some ideas and suggestions on how to progress the Northern Territory. I suggest they get out of the gutter and try to do something positive, something of value that will be productive for the Territory, rather than pursuing the inane, stupid issues that they do. Territorians really expect more of them.
The shares that I hold have been public information ever since I acquired them. They are listed on my declaration of pecuniary interests. Why is it that, all of a sudden, they are of interest to the member for Nhulunbuy? He would not pursue this because of some sudden illumination on his part.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr REED: Members opposite are followers. From time to time, they look at the Register of Members' Interests. I must assume that they would have seen those shares noted on my declaration of interests many times over many years. They have been listed there for many years. In fact, I believe the Western Australian shares have been listed there since I first entered parliament, 9 years ago. Why, all of a sudden, is this such a burning issue? It is not
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because of the member's brightness. It is not because of his own innovativeness. It is not because he wants to be positive and productive and do something for the Territory. It is because members opposite are a pathetic mob of followers, and the Leader of the Opposition has no leadership capacity. All she is doing is following the Beazley line. She has picked up on muckraking. If they have taken up muckraking, why not pick up the borrower of public property, the member for Arafura? Why was it not considered to be a matter of great concern when he walked out of Parliament House with a publicly-owned microwave oven? The Leader of the Opposition went looking for it with a cold cup of soup in her hand. The opposition had not realised even that it had gone until then. She had to manage with no hot soup that evening.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Goodness me, why not apply the same standards to your own members?
What about the member for Wanguri? How does she conveniently overlook the fact that he received advice from the then Leader of the Opposition, Brian Ede, not to change his first class fare over to use it for his family for a trip overseas. Despite the instruction of his boss, he exchanged his entitlement. How can they conveniently overlook that? They do not apply the same standards to themselves. They conveniently excuse their own colleague yet expect higher standards of someone else.
In relation to the Register of Members' Interests, if they really had a concern about that process and if they really wanted more information on it, they would be pointing out the deficiencies in the declaration form. They would have had prepared yesterday a register of members' interests form they considered appropriate and tabled it in the House, demanding that all members provide a wider range of information. They did not even have the initiative to do that in support of their MPI. The offer was even extended by the Chief Minister for them to do that. They are in opposition because they are followers, because they are not innovators and because they do not have the ability to look to the future and get themselves organised. As long as they try to apply standards to others that they will not accept themselves, I suspect that they will continue to be in that position.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thought I had a list of my shareholdings here, but I must have returned it to my office yesterday. It was 2000 shares in Enterprise Gold Mines and, for many years, I have had a part ownership of a parcel of shares in some very small - in fact I think it too is out of business - Western Australian mining company. The best response I can give to the member for Nhulunbuy is that he would be well advised not to take my advice when buying shares.
In about 1986 or 1987, for some reason, a few people in Katherine, including myself, thought that it would be a good idea to invest in the Western Australian mining company and we bought a couple of thousand shares. I think it is defunct now. Enterprise Gold met a similar fate. I believe it has been wound up. In fact, I recall receiving letters notifying shareholders of the demise of the company over a period of years. I do not think the shares are listed any longer. Certainly, I receive no return from them. In respect of the opposition's ploy in seeking to chase these issues through and to pursue in this House a strategy that has been used by its Labor colleagues in Canberra, I ask if members opposite could please show some initiative. I ask the Leader of the Opposition or, as I referred to her yesterday, the follower of the opposition, to try to encourage her crew to be a little more innovative and to come up with some ideas and suggestions on how to progress the Northern Territory. I suggest they get out of the gutter and try to do something positive, something of value that will be productive for the Territory, rather than pursuing the inane, stupid issues that they do. Territorians really expect more of them.
The shares that I hold have been public information ever since I acquired them. They are listed on my declaration of pecuniary interests. Why is it that, all of a sudden, they are of interest to the member for Nhulunbuy? He would not pursue this because of some sudden illumination on his part.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr REED: Members opposite are followers. From time to time, they look at the Register of Members' Interests. I must assume that they would have seen those shares noted on my declaration of interests many times over many years. They have been listed there for many years. In fact, I believe the Western Australian shares have been listed there since I first entered parliament, 9 years ago. Why, all of a sudden, is this such a burning issue? It is not
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because of the member's brightness. It is not because of his own innovativeness. It is not because he wants to be positive and productive and do something for the Territory. It is because members opposite are a pathetic mob of followers, and the Leader of the Opposition has no leadership capacity. All she is doing is following the Beazley line. She has picked up on muckraking. If they have taken up muckraking, why not pick up the borrower of public property, the member for Arafura? Why was it not considered to be a matter of great concern when he walked out of Parliament House with a publicly-owned microwave oven? The Leader of the Opposition went looking for it with a cold cup of soup in her hand. The opposition had not realised even that it had gone until then. She had to manage with no hot soup that evening.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Goodness me, why not apply the same standards to your own members?
What about the member for Wanguri? How does she conveniently overlook the fact that he received advice from the then Leader of the Opposition, Brian Ede, not to change his first class fare over to use it for his family for a trip overseas. Despite the instruction of his boss, he exchanged his entitlement. How can they conveniently overlook that? They do not apply the same standards to themselves. They conveniently excuse their own colleague yet expect higher standards of someone else.
In relation to the Register of Members' Interests, if they really had a concern about that process and if they really wanted more information on it, they would be pointing out the deficiencies in the declaration form. They would have had prepared yesterday a register of members' interests form they considered appropriate and tabled it in the House, demanding that all members provide a wider range of information. They did not even have the initiative to do that in support of their MPI. The offer was even extended by the Chief Minister for them to do that. They are in opposition because they are followers, because they are not innovators and because they do not have the ability to look to the future and get themselves organised. As long as they try to apply standards to others that they will not accept themselves, I suspect that they will continue to be in that position.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016