Ms ANDERSON - 2005-08-25
Minister, you are an old truck driver, and I understand you still hold a truckies licence. Will you be attending the commemorative activities at the Truckies Reunion at the Hall of Fame in Alice Springs this weekend, and can you tell us what the government has done to assist this community group?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. If I could clarify one part of the question, which is the ‘old truckie’ bit. When I was young, I drove old trucks. That is the explanation for that reference. It has been some years since I drove a truck, Madam Speaker;, however, I still have a semi-trailer licence.
I have a particular interest in the Road Transport Hall of Fame. It is a great organisation which has a great exhibit in Alice Springs. This weekend, they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary, the highlight of which will be the announcement of a sponsorship deal between the Hall of Fame and a well-known, but at this stage unknown, trucking company. It is a very important weekend.
The Road Transport Hall of Fame is dedicated to the heritage and history of road transport in the Northern Territory and throughout Australia. There are some very interesting exhibits there. I commend it to members and members of the public. It highlights some of the great personalities of the trucking industry in the Northern Territory, notably Mr Kurt JohansenJohannsen. The exhibit includes a station wagon he constructed. It has a methane burner on the back. It is a very forward-looking vehicle and very interesting. I regret that I did not personally never got to meetmeet Kurt Johansen. I am sure he was a very interesting man. He designed and built some of the first road trains in Australia and, indeed, the world.
The 10th anniversary celebration began yesterday and will continue until Monday. It will attract over 6000 people to Alice Springs, so it is a great boon to the Alice Springs economy. Apparently there is not a hotel room left in town, so I hope mine is still there. I will be attending on Saturday night. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and sterling efforts of the volunteers who are the backbone of this organisation: principally, Liz Martin who is President of the Road Transport Historical Society, which has put in a huge effort to ensure the success of the 10th anniversary reunion.
It is important to know that this organisation is principally self-funded through its thousands of members as well as through entry fees, souvenir sales and sponsorship from the private sector. This government – and I will compliment previous CLP governments, which have ssupported this organisation – has been supporting the organisation through the grant of land, approximately 3.4 hectares ha of land along Norris Bell Avenue thatwhich was previously shared with the Ghan Preservation Society. We facilitated the subdivision, and we invested approximately $65 000 for the provision of a separate water supply to enable the subdivision to occur.
We are all looking forward to Saturday night. I suppose the name of the sponsor is one of the worst kept secrets in Alice Springs. If you look at the member for Greatorex’s speech last night, you might get an inkling of who that sponsor might be. I am sure there will be a good crowd there on Saturday night. It is a great time for Alice Springs and for the history of transport in the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. If I could clarify one part of the question, which is the ‘old truckie’ bit. When I was young, I drove old trucks. That is the explanation for that reference. It has been some years since I drove a truck, Madam Speaker;, however, I still have a semi-trailer licence.
I have a particular interest in the Road Transport Hall of Fame. It is a great organisation which has a great exhibit in Alice Springs. This weekend, they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary, the highlight of which will be the announcement of a sponsorship deal between the Hall of Fame and a well-known, but at this stage unknown, trucking company. It is a very important weekend.
The Road Transport Hall of Fame is dedicated to the heritage and history of road transport in the Northern Territory and throughout Australia. There are some very interesting exhibits there. I commend it to members and members of the public. It highlights some of the great personalities of the trucking industry in the Northern Territory, notably Mr Kurt JohansenJohannsen. The exhibit includes a station wagon he constructed. It has a methane burner on the back. It is a very forward-looking vehicle and very interesting. I regret that I did not personally never got to meetmeet Kurt Johansen. I am sure he was a very interesting man. He designed and built some of the first road trains in Australia and, indeed, the world.
The 10th anniversary celebration began yesterday and will continue until Monday. It will attract over 6000 people to Alice Springs, so it is a great boon to the Alice Springs economy. Apparently there is not a hotel room left in town, so I hope mine is still there. I will be attending on Saturday night. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and sterling efforts of the volunteers who are the backbone of this organisation: principally, Liz Martin who is President of the Road Transport Historical Society, which has put in a huge effort to ensure the success of the 10th anniversary reunion.
It is important to know that this organisation is principally self-funded through its thousands of members as well as through entry fees, souvenir sales and sponsorship from the private sector. This government – and I will compliment previous CLP governments, which have ssupported this organisation – has been supporting the organisation through the grant of land, approximately 3.4 hectares ha of land along Norris Bell Avenue thatwhich was previously shared with the Ghan Preservation Society. We facilitated the subdivision, and we invested approximately $65 000 for the provision of a separate water supply to enable the subdivision to occur.
We are all looking forward to Saturday night. I suppose the name of the sponsor is one of the worst kept secrets in Alice Springs. If you look at the member for Greatorex’s speech last night, you might get an inkling of who that sponsor might be. I am sure there will be a good crowd there on Saturday night. It is a great time for Alice Springs and for the history of transport in the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016