Mr LANHUPUY - 1994-06-28
Mr Speaker, for a long time, many Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory have been concerned that the CLP government receives a large amount of Commonwealth funding, which the Grants Commission assesses is required, for the delivery of services to Aboriginal communities but spends it elsewhere. Recently, the Premier of Queensland called on the Commonwealth government to take over service delivery to Aboriginal communities. Will the Treasurer prepare a report detailing all the funds that this government received in 1993-94 on the basis of the number of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, and detail the money that it will spend on providing services to Aboriginal people this year?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, before I answer his question, if the member for Arnhem can provide me with any details of instances where we have used for any other purpose money from tied grants or specific purpose grants that have been set aside for Aboriginal purposes or an Aboriginal community, then he should do so immediately.
Mr Bell: Try local roads funding.
Mr COULTER: Local roads funding is an absolute disgrace.
Mr Bell: You untied it and spent it elsewhere.
Mr COULTER: It is an absolute disgrace. When will you tell Hon Warren Snowdon, the Territory's member in the House of Representatives, that his experiment with Aboriginal road funding is a disgrace?
Mr Bell: It is an excuse.
Mr COULTER: It has failed and therefore should revert to the way that it worked before. You must know that it has not worked.
Mr Bell: In my electorate, the roads are so rutted ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr COULTER: Mr Speaker, if the member for Arnhem has one example where that is true, he should ...
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question was quite specific in that it referred to money which the Grants Commission assesses is required. As he has held the position for some time, the Treasurer should know that the money to which he is referring - that is, special purpose grants - is not incorporated in the Grants Commission funding.
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Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Leader of the Opposition should recognise that the Treasurer was responding to interjections from the opposition.
Mr Ede: No, he started before that.
Mr COULTER: Absolutely! I was referring to the member for MacDonnell's interjection about road funding.
Mr Ede: You referred to specific purpose grants.
Mr COULTER: The Leader of the Opposition reminds me of the Rugby player who was dropped from the side. When people asked what was wrong with him that he could not be in the team, they were told that he had a problem with his ears. They asked what was wrong with his ears and the answer was that he would not listen. That is the Leader of the Opposition's problem.
I return to the member for Arnhem's allegation. He cannot provide one scrap of evidence for it, and he knows that. The Labor 100 club provided him with a question, and he fell for the 3-card trick.
Mr Lanhupuy interjecting.
Mr COULTER: You are better than they are. You are in here representing more people than they do. You are much better than they are, but you cannot provide me with one scrap of evidence on which to base that allegation.
Mr BAILEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question had nothing to do with tied grants. It was specific. We asked for information about how much money was spent and where.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but I ask the minister to conclude his answer as quickly as possible.
Mr COULTER: Mr Speaker, I will. The Chief Minister and I met with the Chairman of the Grants Commission when he was in Darwin last week. We had a long conversation about tied grants and the exact function of the Grants Commission. We referred to the time when it was last in Darwin and Aboriginal people met with the chairman at the Hotel Darwin to untie all the grants. They wanted direct funding from the Grants Commission but were told that that was not the Grants Commission's charter, role or function. It does not give anybody any money.
I am happy to provide the information requested because this government is particularly proud of its record on funding for Aboriginal people and the percentage of the budget that goes to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. I take offence at the opposition saying that we are using for other purposes money that has been provided specifically for Aboriginal communities. If the member for Arnhem can find a single example, he should provide me with the details.
Mr Ede: He has given you one.
Mr COULTER: However, I know that he cannot do that.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, before I answer his question, if the member for Arnhem can provide me with any details of instances where we have used for any other purpose money from tied grants or specific purpose grants that have been set aside for Aboriginal purposes or an Aboriginal community, then he should do so immediately.
Mr Bell: Try local roads funding.
Mr COULTER: Local roads funding is an absolute disgrace.
Mr Bell: You untied it and spent it elsewhere.
Mr COULTER: It is an absolute disgrace. When will you tell Hon Warren Snowdon, the Territory's member in the House of Representatives, that his experiment with Aboriginal road funding is a disgrace?
Mr Bell: It is an excuse.
Mr COULTER: It has failed and therefore should revert to the way that it worked before. You must know that it has not worked.
Mr Bell: In my electorate, the roads are so rutted ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr COULTER: Mr Speaker, if the member for Arnhem has one example where that is true, he should ...
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question was quite specific in that it referred to money which the Grants Commission assesses is required. As he has held the position for some time, the Treasurer should know that the money to which he is referring - that is, special purpose grants - is not incorporated in the Grants Commission funding.
Page 5
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Leader of the Opposition should recognise that the Treasurer was responding to interjections from the opposition.
Mr Ede: No, he started before that.
Mr COULTER: Absolutely! I was referring to the member for MacDonnell's interjection about road funding.
Mr Ede: You referred to specific purpose grants.
Mr COULTER: The Leader of the Opposition reminds me of the Rugby player who was dropped from the side. When people asked what was wrong with him that he could not be in the team, they were told that he had a problem with his ears. They asked what was wrong with his ears and the answer was that he would not listen. That is the Leader of the Opposition's problem.
I return to the member for Arnhem's allegation. He cannot provide one scrap of evidence for it, and he knows that. The Labor 100 club provided him with a question, and he fell for the 3-card trick.
Mr Lanhupuy interjecting.
Mr COULTER: You are better than they are. You are in here representing more people than they do. You are much better than they are, but you cannot provide me with one scrap of evidence on which to base that allegation.
Mr BAILEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question had nothing to do with tied grants. It was specific. We asked for information about how much money was spent and where.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but I ask the minister to conclude his answer as quickly as possible.
Mr COULTER: Mr Speaker, I will. The Chief Minister and I met with the Chairman of the Grants Commission when he was in Darwin last week. We had a long conversation about tied grants and the exact function of the Grants Commission. We referred to the time when it was last in Darwin and Aboriginal people met with the chairman at the Hotel Darwin to untie all the grants. They wanted direct funding from the Grants Commission but were told that that was not the Grants Commission's charter, role or function. It does not give anybody any money.
I am happy to provide the information requested because this government is particularly proud of its record on funding for Aboriginal people and the percentage of the budget that goes to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. I take offence at the opposition saying that we are using for other purposes money that has been provided specifically for Aboriginal communities. If the member for Arnhem can find a single example, he should provide me with the details.
Mr Ede: He has given you one.
Mr COULTER: However, I know that he cannot do that.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016