Mr CONLAN - 2008-02-13
Approximately 12 months ago, in the April parliamentary sittings last year, you were in Alice Springs when around 500, maybe 600 - last word maybe it was 1000 - people were protesting …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr CONLAN: … about the Labor government’s neglect of Alice Springs. Sadly, a little less than 12 months on, not much has improved or changed. For the first time since the portfolio was created - and it began in 1988 - Central Australia is now deprived of a minister who lives in the region. Why have you given up on providing Central Australians with Cabinet representation?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his very entertaining question. There is an old saying, Madam Speaker, never let the truth get in the way of a good story – 500, 600 or 1000 people.
Yes, at the last parliament in Alice Springs there was a demonstration. I attended that demonstration with a number of colleagues and, yes, people were upset and demonstrated against the parliament, as they are entitled to do. We have demonstrations in this parliament from time to time. Of course, as members of parliament, we take notice of those demonstrations, and we did respond to the law and order issues in Alice Springs.
Police numbers are above establishment, after many years of CLP neglect in Alice Springs. The alcohol reforms that my colleague, the minister for Licensing has introduced has seen …
Mr Mills: How come they keep voting CLP? They are not supporting Labor down there.
Mrs Miller: Yes, they are not unhappy.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, the opposition, really - they ask questions but they do not want to hear the answers.
Mrs Miller: A bit sensitive, I know.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr Mills: They are not answers though.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition members, I ask you to cease interjecting please.
Mr HENDERSON: With the additional policing presence and the new licensing regime in Alice Springs, we are seeing reductions in people fronting the Accident and Emergency unit at the hospital with significant wounds. We are seeing increases in school attendance at some of our schools in Alice Springs as a result, and police are doing a great job. We are not saying it is fixed by any stretch of the imagination but it is a lot better than it was.
In regard to the Caucus decision in appointing the new member into the Cabinet, each and every one of our ministers is responsible for Central Australia. They are responsible for delivering education, health services, and infrastructure in Central Australia. We all have responsibilities for Central Australia.
Talk about leading with your chin by saying that somehow this government has abandoned the people of Central Australia because we do not have a resident of Central Australia in Cabinet. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the Leader of the Opposition said that you could not lead the Territory unless you did it from Darwin, and the members from Central Australia are now right out there on the backbench ...
Mr Mills: We have two members there.
Mrs Miller: We have two out of four, how many do you have?
Mr Mills: You do not have any.
Mr HENDERSON: The opposition has abandoned Central Australia entirely. We are not going to do that. Each and every one of our ministers is responsible for delivering services in Central Australia. We will continue to have a high profile in Central Australia. If I get another question on this I will go through a list of the achievements of this government in Central Australia since we came to office.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr CONLAN: … about the Labor government’s neglect of Alice Springs. Sadly, a little less than 12 months on, not much has improved or changed. For the first time since the portfolio was created - and it began in 1988 - Central Australia is now deprived of a minister who lives in the region. Why have you given up on providing Central Australians with Cabinet representation?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his very entertaining question. There is an old saying, Madam Speaker, never let the truth get in the way of a good story – 500, 600 or 1000 people.
Yes, at the last parliament in Alice Springs there was a demonstration. I attended that demonstration with a number of colleagues and, yes, people were upset and demonstrated against the parliament, as they are entitled to do. We have demonstrations in this parliament from time to time. Of course, as members of parliament, we take notice of those demonstrations, and we did respond to the law and order issues in Alice Springs.
Police numbers are above establishment, after many years of CLP neglect in Alice Springs. The alcohol reforms that my colleague, the minister for Licensing has introduced has seen …
Mr Mills: How come they keep voting CLP? They are not supporting Labor down there.
Mrs Miller: Yes, they are not unhappy.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, the opposition, really - they ask questions but they do not want to hear the answers.
Mrs Miller: A bit sensitive, I know.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr Mills: They are not answers though.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition members, I ask you to cease interjecting please.
Mr HENDERSON: With the additional policing presence and the new licensing regime in Alice Springs, we are seeing reductions in people fronting the Accident and Emergency unit at the hospital with significant wounds. We are seeing increases in school attendance at some of our schools in Alice Springs as a result, and police are doing a great job. We are not saying it is fixed by any stretch of the imagination but it is a lot better than it was.
In regard to the Caucus decision in appointing the new member into the Cabinet, each and every one of our ministers is responsible for Central Australia. They are responsible for delivering education, health services, and infrastructure in Central Australia. We all have responsibilities for Central Australia.
Talk about leading with your chin by saying that somehow this government has abandoned the people of Central Australia because we do not have a resident of Central Australia in Cabinet. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the Leader of the Opposition said that you could not lead the Territory unless you did it from Darwin, and the members from Central Australia are now right out there on the backbench ...
Mr Mills: We have two members there.
Mrs Miller: We have two out of four, how many do you have?
Mr Mills: You do not have any.
Mr HENDERSON: The opposition has abandoned Central Australia entirely. We are not going to do that. Each and every one of our ministers is responsible for delivering services in Central Australia. We will continue to have a high profile in Central Australia. If I get another question on this I will go through a list of the achievements of this government in Central Australia since we came to office.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016