Ms MARTIN - 1996-11-27
I have a supplementary question, repeating the second part of the question that I asked the Deputy Chief Minister. Is it not true that the only letter written to pensioners during the election period in 1994 was from Marshall Perron on Country Liberal Party letterhead?
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Members interjecting.
ANSWER
I am not going to speak over you. If you want an answer ...
Mr Ah Kit: Come on, you big sook! Yes or no?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, I have given an assurance to this House that I neither authorised the use of the list that I obtained as a result of my request nor, to my knowledge, did it go outside my office. My staff are particularly diligent in these matters. As I explained yesterday, members opposite found the Country Liberal Party guilty of what they considered to be an offence ...
Ms Martin: I asked a question.
Mr REED: And I am answering it.
What the member is now attempting to do is to construct the evidence to support her finding of guilt. Courts operate in a quite different way. They obtain the evidence and assess whether or not there is a position of guilt. The member for Fannie Bay is attempting to construct a position in relation to the list. She is trying to allege that there is a link between the list that I sought and a letter sent out by another person, the then Chief Minister.
Ms Martin: Answer the question.
Mr REED: I am answering the question. That is the point you are trying to make. You are asserting that the list that I received was then provided to another person who wrote to advise people about the matters to which the member refers.
Ms Martin: Where did the list come from?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: I thank the member for her interjection on this occasion. Where did the list come from? This proves my point. Where did the list come from that the then Chief Minister used? That is the link you are trying to make. That is the link that you are unable to substantiate and will not substantiate it because it did not exist. The list that was used was not authorised by me and it did not go out of my office. What was provided, as the Chief Minister indicated today, was information from the Australian Electoral Office. That may well have been the basis for letters that were sent out. The member is trying to fabricate evidence by suggesting that one list was used for the purpose that she alleges. I do not think Territorians are as thick as she is trying to make out they are. In trying to put in place links and constructions of guilt, the honourable member is putting Josef Goebbels to shame.
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Members interjecting.
ANSWER
I am not going to speak over you. If you want an answer ...
Mr Ah Kit: Come on, you big sook! Yes or no?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, I have given an assurance to this House that I neither authorised the use of the list that I obtained as a result of my request nor, to my knowledge, did it go outside my office. My staff are particularly diligent in these matters. As I explained yesterday, members opposite found the Country Liberal Party guilty of what they considered to be an offence ...
Ms Martin: I asked a question.
Mr REED: And I am answering it.
What the member is now attempting to do is to construct the evidence to support her finding of guilt. Courts operate in a quite different way. They obtain the evidence and assess whether or not there is a position of guilt. The member for Fannie Bay is attempting to construct a position in relation to the list. She is trying to allege that there is a link between the list that I sought and a letter sent out by another person, the then Chief Minister.
Ms Martin: Answer the question.
Mr REED: I am answering the question. That is the point you are trying to make. You are asserting that the list that I received was then provided to another person who wrote to advise people about the matters to which the member refers.
Ms Martin: Where did the list come from?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: I thank the member for her interjection on this occasion. Where did the list come from? This proves my point. Where did the list come from that the then Chief Minister used? That is the link you are trying to make. That is the link that you are unable to substantiate and will not substantiate it because it did not exist. The list that was used was not authorised by me and it did not go out of my office. What was provided, as the Chief Minister indicated today, was information from the Australian Electoral Office. That may well have been the basis for letters that were sent out. The member is trying to fabricate evidence by suggesting that one list was used for the purpose that she alleges. I do not think Territorians are as thick as she is trying to make out they are. In trying to put in place links and constructions of guilt, the honourable member is putting Josef Goebbels to shame.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016