Mr REED - 2002-08-21
Last month, at a Chamber of Commerce and Industry Cabinet briefing in Katherine, in response to a question from the floor the Chief Minister told business people what the government was going to do to stimulate economic activity in Katherine, and that she could not say what was going to be in the budget, although she would give a little leak that they were going to get a new morgue - which caused a little consternation. In the budget we see, in fact, that the only major capital works item in Katherine is going to be a morgue. Because the people of Katherine are dying to find out, what else is this government going to do to stimulate economic activity in response to her part answer to the question to business people last month? Further, how is it that she has made a blunder in relation to her budget books wherein, in the Budget Overview, she states that the amount is going to be $400 000 for this wonderful morgue yet, in Budget Paper No 4 the amount is $350 000.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I was delighted to be in Katherine at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry lunch, to find the members for Katherine, Daly, and Drysdale there.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members, I would like to hear the reply in silence.
Ms MARTIN: You were very welcome to be there, absolutely very welcome. One of the interesting things that the Katherine business people and community talked to me about when we there - and we Cabinet members were very pleased to be there - was their frustration over the last few years with a government that never talked to them. This is extraordinary. There they have two local members, two members of the CLP who were ministers, and they said: ‘They never listened to us at the business round table’. Those who were there said they have actually been able to sit down with key government ministers and be listened to for the first time.
That was extraordinary. This is no hyperbole here, this was the fact. I was shocked. I had a grudging respect for the members for Katherine and Daly, and thought that they would actually be talking to their local community, but obviously not. I do not think we are finding the members for Katherine and Daly are doing an effective job as local members, because now the people of Katherine feel as though they have been abandoned by their local members.
One thing I say about the Katherine community is, there are so many ideas about how to move Katherine into the future, about the developing industries there, the broader view of economic growth. The ideas are there, and they have been there for a while, but they have fallen on cloth ears in the past – absolute cloth ears. One of the things that the CLP has been so good about effectively doing in the past, is dividing communities. We had a government that never spoke to local government, barely said hello to the indigenous organisations in the town, barely …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is in deference to the people of Katherine who are listening and wanting an answer from the Chief Minister, just like they did not get one at the Cabinet luncheon, could she say what she is going to do to stimulate the economic development of Katherine beyond building a morgue, the only capital item in this budget?
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Chief Minister, continue your reply.
Ms MARTIN: I was proud to say we were replacing the mortuary. The mortuary was on – a dreadful thing to say - its last legs. Katherine had been saying for years that it needed a new mortuary, particularly since the flood. What had the local members done? Simply not responded.
Mr Stirling: He was Treasurer and he did not do it.
Ms MARTIN: And local member.
My words are not rhetoric, they are the truth. You were not listening to the local community, and you were not listening to the budget yesterday. $300 000 for a Katherine transitional care unit at the Rocky Ridge Nursing home.
Mr Reed: Well, why isn’t it in the budget books?
Ms MARTIN: It is in the budget books.
Let me say, this government will be working with the business and community leaders in Katherine, because I believe that those leaders in the community simply want a government which is going to work with them and move Katherine and the region forward. The ideas are there and we, as a Cabinet, will be back. We will be having a major community Cabinet in Katherine next month, and you are invited. We will have a barbecue and we will make sure the members for Katherine and Daly are invited. Let me say that I am delighted with the response from the Katherine business and community organisations, because they told us that finally they have a government which is listening.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I was delighted to be in Katherine at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry lunch, to find the members for Katherine, Daly, and Drysdale there.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members, I would like to hear the reply in silence.
Ms MARTIN: You were very welcome to be there, absolutely very welcome. One of the interesting things that the Katherine business people and community talked to me about when we there - and we Cabinet members were very pleased to be there - was their frustration over the last few years with a government that never talked to them. This is extraordinary. There they have two local members, two members of the CLP who were ministers, and they said: ‘They never listened to us at the business round table’. Those who were there said they have actually been able to sit down with key government ministers and be listened to for the first time.
That was extraordinary. This is no hyperbole here, this was the fact. I was shocked. I had a grudging respect for the members for Katherine and Daly, and thought that they would actually be talking to their local community, but obviously not. I do not think we are finding the members for Katherine and Daly are doing an effective job as local members, because now the people of Katherine feel as though they have been abandoned by their local members.
One thing I say about the Katherine community is, there are so many ideas about how to move Katherine into the future, about the developing industries there, the broader view of economic growth. The ideas are there, and they have been there for a while, but they have fallen on cloth ears in the past – absolute cloth ears. One of the things that the CLP has been so good about effectively doing in the past, is dividing communities. We had a government that never spoke to local government, barely said hello to the indigenous organisations in the town, barely …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is in deference to the people of Katherine who are listening and wanting an answer from the Chief Minister, just like they did not get one at the Cabinet luncheon, could she say what she is going to do to stimulate the economic development of Katherine beyond building a morgue, the only capital item in this budget?
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Chief Minister, continue your reply.
Ms MARTIN: I was proud to say we were replacing the mortuary. The mortuary was on – a dreadful thing to say - its last legs. Katherine had been saying for years that it needed a new mortuary, particularly since the flood. What had the local members done? Simply not responded.
Mr Stirling: He was Treasurer and he did not do it.
Ms MARTIN: And local member.
My words are not rhetoric, they are the truth. You were not listening to the local community, and you were not listening to the budget yesterday. $300 000 for a Katherine transitional care unit at the Rocky Ridge Nursing home.
Mr Reed: Well, why isn’t it in the budget books?
Ms MARTIN: It is in the budget books.
Let me say, this government will be working with the business and community leaders in Katherine, because I believe that those leaders in the community simply want a government which is going to work with them and move Katherine and the region forward. The ideas are there and we, as a Cabinet, will be back. We will be having a major community Cabinet in Katherine next month, and you are invited. We will have a barbecue and we will make sure the members for Katherine and Daly are invited. Let me say that I am delighted with the response from the Katherine business and community organisations, because they told us that finally they have a government which is listening.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016