Mr SETTER - 1996-11-20
Can he confirm that the member for Barkly has published misleading information about the supply of electricity to a small community in her electorate?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is interesting. This morning, we heard that the Leader of the Opposition had misrepresented what was told to her by the Commissioner of Police.
Mr Stone: Which she has yet to apologise for.
Mrs Hickey: The Chief Minister was not there.
Mr MANZIE: Whenever she is under attack, she starts a running monologue. She knows that interferes with the broadcast. She knows it makes it very difficult for Territorians to hear about and obtain details of her wrongdoing and her lack of ability. I make the point that, if people hear a female voice running off, it will be because she is suffering stress.
Mrs Hickey: I will be happy to get up and admit to it.
Mr MANZIE: Do you see what I mean?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, I rest my case. Her stress level is rising, and away she goes.
The member for Barkly wrote to the previous Minister for Power and Water about the supply of power to a community called Imangara at Murray Downs. It is situated about 200 km south-east of Tennant Creek and about 30 km from Ali Curung. The Leader of the Opposition received a reply from my predecessor informing her that Murray Downs did not meet the criteria used by the government when deciding whether to supply power to small communities. In fact, he pointed out that it was an outstation and that it was still the responsibility of the federal government through ATSIC.
I have received 2 letters from the member for Barkly requesting that the authority consider various options for supplying power to the community, including sharing costs with ATSIC. I wrote to her on 18 September and repeated the advice from my predecessor, that the community is a federal responsibility. I told her also that the authority had approached the ATSIC regional council to see if it could partly sponsor the project. I wrote: `Should this be the case, the priority and timing of this project in relation to the needs of other communities
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could be reassessed'. The member for Barkly took a quantum leap forward after receiving that letter. The letter is quite clear. I table it so that honourable members may be aware of the propensity of the member for Barkly to be most dishonest in representing information that she receives. In her column in the Tennant and District Times of 4 October, under the headline `Power to the People', she wrote:
Thanks to considerable lobbying and some active cooperation between PAWA and the ATSIC regional
council, I am delighted to say that the establishment of a jointly-funded hybrid power system is likely to
occur this financial year.
That is pretty good, isn't it? She gets a letter saying that, if ATSIC will accept a funding responsibility, the priority and timing of the project in relation to the needs of other communities could be reassessed. That becomes suddenly: `I am delighted to say that the establishment of a jointly-funded hybrid power system is likely to occur this financial year'. The information that the local member has provided to that Aboriginal community is totally and utterly incorrect. It provides a gross misrepresentation of the situation and it causes and creates problems.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: The member for Wanguri is off again, trying to protect his leader. He does this continually.
Mr Bailey: Is this is the best you have, Daryl?
Mr MANZIE: He is rude. He is bad-mannered. He does not like anyone in the Territory to hear any information. He interjects constantly.
The Leader of the Opposition has not done those constituents of hers any good. Indeed, probably she has created a situation in which they believe that they will receive some relief in this area. Deliberately, she twisted the facts that were explained to her in writing. I find it very disappointing that we will need to provide information to that community, through the medium of the Tennant and District Times, to correct the information that the local member, the Leader of the Opposition, has presented. It is typical of her ability to misinterpret facts and twist the truth. That is something that she needs to be careful about because people in the community do see and hear what she does and says. She needs to ensure that she balances her comments with some truth instead of presenting twisted inaccuracies.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is interesting. This morning, we heard that the Leader of the Opposition had misrepresented what was told to her by the Commissioner of Police.
Mr Stone: Which she has yet to apologise for.
Mrs Hickey: The Chief Minister was not there.
Mr MANZIE: Whenever she is under attack, she starts a running monologue. She knows that interferes with the broadcast. She knows it makes it very difficult for Territorians to hear about and obtain details of her wrongdoing and her lack of ability. I make the point that, if people hear a female voice running off, it will be because she is suffering stress.
Mrs Hickey: I will be happy to get up and admit to it.
Mr MANZIE: Do you see what I mean?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, I rest my case. Her stress level is rising, and away she goes.
The member for Barkly wrote to the previous Minister for Power and Water about the supply of power to a community called Imangara at Murray Downs. It is situated about 200 km south-east of Tennant Creek and about 30 km from Ali Curung. The Leader of the Opposition received a reply from my predecessor informing her that Murray Downs did not meet the criteria used by the government when deciding whether to supply power to small communities. In fact, he pointed out that it was an outstation and that it was still the responsibility of the federal government through ATSIC.
I have received 2 letters from the member for Barkly requesting that the authority consider various options for supplying power to the community, including sharing costs with ATSIC. I wrote to her on 18 September and repeated the advice from my predecessor, that the community is a federal responsibility. I told her also that the authority had approached the ATSIC regional council to see if it could partly sponsor the project. I wrote: `Should this be the case, the priority and timing of this project in relation to the needs of other communities
Page 1786
could be reassessed'. The member for Barkly took a quantum leap forward after receiving that letter. The letter is quite clear. I table it so that honourable members may be aware of the propensity of the member for Barkly to be most dishonest in representing information that she receives. In her column in the Tennant and District Times of 4 October, under the headline `Power to the People', she wrote:
Thanks to considerable lobbying and some active cooperation between PAWA and the ATSIC regional
council, I am delighted to say that the establishment of a jointly-funded hybrid power system is likely to
occur this financial year.
That is pretty good, isn't it? She gets a letter saying that, if ATSIC will accept a funding responsibility, the priority and timing of the project in relation to the needs of other communities could be reassessed. That becomes suddenly: `I am delighted to say that the establishment of a jointly-funded hybrid power system is likely to occur this financial year'. The information that the local member has provided to that Aboriginal community is totally and utterly incorrect. It provides a gross misrepresentation of the situation and it causes and creates problems.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: The member for Wanguri is off again, trying to protect his leader. He does this continually.
Mr Bailey: Is this is the best you have, Daryl?
Mr MANZIE: He is rude. He is bad-mannered. He does not like anyone in the Territory to hear any information. He interjects constantly.
The Leader of the Opposition has not done those constituents of hers any good. Indeed, probably she has created a situation in which they believe that they will receive some relief in this area. Deliberately, she twisted the facts that were explained to her in writing. I find it very disappointing that we will need to provide information to that community, through the medium of the Tennant and District Times, to correct the information that the local member, the Leader of the Opposition, has presented. It is typical of her ability to misinterpret facts and twist the truth. That is something that she needs to be careful about because people in the community do see and hear what she does and says. She needs to ensure that she balances her comments with some truth instead of presenting twisted inaccuracies.
Page 1787
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016