Dr BURNS - 2002-08-22
How do you rate the Opposition Leader’s reply to your budget?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Before you reply, Chief Minister, I would suggest that we have shorter answers today, so if we could get on with the answer.
Ms Martin: Madam Speaker, have I taken …
Madam SPEAKER: We have had three questions in 20 minutes.
ANSWER
I think I will blame the Minister for Justice for that, Madam Speaker.
Mr BURKE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is out of order because it asks an opinion from the minister.
Madam SPEAKER: I will rule the question in order, mainly because most questions ask for an opinion.
Ms MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We listened to the Opposition Leader yesterday reply to what was an excellent budget presented on Tuesday; a budget that has been well received by the business community, and the community generally, and really applauded.
Initially I thought the response from the Opposition Leader was lost and confused. On second thoughts, it was simply ignorant. I can demonstrate that ignorance, because really and truly, if the Opposition Leader was taking it seriously in his reply to the budget, he would have said …
A member interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: He came in here and virtually accused Treasury of conspiracy with figures, of corrupting figures. Some very serious charges about these budget books were laid yesterday, and yet we came in to a Question Time following that, and not a question following it up. Talk about great team work! Not even a question from the Opposition Leader, saying: ‘I presented this critical analysis of the detail of the budget’, and not a question to follow it up. Not a question, because basically, he was wrong, wrong, wrong. Lost and confused and ignorant, he was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Mr Burke: Yes, you lied, lied, lied.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, withdraw that remark.
Mr BURKE: Well, Madam Speaker, it is getting hard to sit here and cop this sort of stuff.
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw.
Ms MARTIN: Well, let me just deal with it. I am not standing here saying wrong, wrong, wrong, for no reason. Let us look at just a few instances - and I will keep my response short - of what was wrong in what the Opposition Leader said yesterday. He accused us, the government, of selling government assets. He went to Budget Paper No 2 and held it up and said: ‘This is outrageous. Look at this, net worth declining over years’. He was on the wrong page of the budget. He does not understand the difference between the general government sector and the non-financial public sector. He does not understand it. He stood here, declaring to all the world, that we had it wrong and, in fact, he was on the wrong page. He then went on to declare that the budget papers - this is part of the Treasury conspiracy - the budget paper …
Mr Burke: Tell me the right page. What page is the right page?
Ms MARTIN: I think it is about page 80 actually. Go and look at the right chart.
Mr Burke: Of which book?
Ms MARTIN: Budget Paper No 2. You will be fine. We have offered you a briefing and you refused to take it. Then you went on to say …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, direct your remarks to me.
Ms MARTIN: Sorry, Madam Speaker. Then he went on to say the budget papers had lost $1bn. Lost $1bn! Now, either he cannot read or understand the budget papers, but under accrual accounting it is very obvious, and the detail is there to read if you actually open the books and read the papers.
We have a budget of just over $2bn. Yes, we do. The previous cash accounting counted in those inter-agency transfers. They are not about expenditure, they are net-net. So, when you do accrual, you look at the actual expenditure. We have not lost $1bn. Don’t you feel any sense of embarrassment? Madam Speaker, doesn’t the Opposition Leader feel any sense of embarrassment?
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: You accused the Treasury of losing $1bn. He then went on to say that we had understated Commonwealth revenues. He said we are going to get more. Based on what? It is like young Denis runs along to the bank manager, he has just got his first job and he says: ‘I am just a tally clerk, but I am going to be the managing director. Can you give me a loan for a house based on a managing director’s salary?’.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We are talking about bank managers. You did ask the Chief Minister to keep answers short and to the point.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, I am afraid answers to questions have been extremely long today. Look, nearly 25 minutes and we are not finished the fourth question. Come on, Chief Minister, on with it.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, it is a serious issue. We listened to a load of rubbish in here yesterday; a load of rubbish when the Opposition Leader said we should be inflating Commonwealth revenues. It is no wonder the CLP got us into such debt. Then he claimed there was no new capital works expenditure. $176m of that $333m cash is new works, yet the Opposition Leader said: ‘No new works. You are just doing what the CLP put in place.’ What a load of rubbish! Parap Primary, Nhulunbuy High, renal unit, hospice; the list goes on and on and on. That is just a start of the rubbish we heard yesterday. It is a great budget, it is delivering for today, it is investing for our future and, basically, they had nothing to say.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Before you reply, Chief Minister, I would suggest that we have shorter answers today, so if we could get on with the answer.
Ms Martin: Madam Speaker, have I taken …
Madam SPEAKER: We have had three questions in 20 minutes.
ANSWER
I think I will blame the Minister for Justice for that, Madam Speaker.
Mr BURKE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is out of order because it asks an opinion from the minister.
Madam SPEAKER: I will rule the question in order, mainly because most questions ask for an opinion.
Ms MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We listened to the Opposition Leader yesterday reply to what was an excellent budget presented on Tuesday; a budget that has been well received by the business community, and the community generally, and really applauded.
Initially I thought the response from the Opposition Leader was lost and confused. On second thoughts, it was simply ignorant. I can demonstrate that ignorance, because really and truly, if the Opposition Leader was taking it seriously in his reply to the budget, he would have said …
A member interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: He came in here and virtually accused Treasury of conspiracy with figures, of corrupting figures. Some very serious charges about these budget books were laid yesterday, and yet we came in to a Question Time following that, and not a question following it up. Talk about great team work! Not even a question from the Opposition Leader, saying: ‘I presented this critical analysis of the detail of the budget’, and not a question to follow it up. Not a question, because basically, he was wrong, wrong, wrong. Lost and confused and ignorant, he was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Mr Burke: Yes, you lied, lied, lied.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, withdraw that remark.
Mr BURKE: Well, Madam Speaker, it is getting hard to sit here and cop this sort of stuff.
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw.
Ms MARTIN: Well, let me just deal with it. I am not standing here saying wrong, wrong, wrong, for no reason. Let us look at just a few instances - and I will keep my response short - of what was wrong in what the Opposition Leader said yesterday. He accused us, the government, of selling government assets. He went to Budget Paper No 2 and held it up and said: ‘This is outrageous. Look at this, net worth declining over years’. He was on the wrong page of the budget. He does not understand the difference between the general government sector and the non-financial public sector. He does not understand it. He stood here, declaring to all the world, that we had it wrong and, in fact, he was on the wrong page. He then went on to declare that the budget papers - this is part of the Treasury conspiracy - the budget paper …
Mr Burke: Tell me the right page. What page is the right page?
Ms MARTIN: I think it is about page 80 actually. Go and look at the right chart.
Mr Burke: Of which book?
Ms MARTIN: Budget Paper No 2. You will be fine. We have offered you a briefing and you refused to take it. Then you went on to say …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, direct your remarks to me.
Ms MARTIN: Sorry, Madam Speaker. Then he went on to say the budget papers had lost $1bn. Lost $1bn! Now, either he cannot read or understand the budget papers, but under accrual accounting it is very obvious, and the detail is there to read if you actually open the books and read the papers.
We have a budget of just over $2bn. Yes, we do. The previous cash accounting counted in those inter-agency transfers. They are not about expenditure, they are net-net. So, when you do accrual, you look at the actual expenditure. We have not lost $1bn. Don’t you feel any sense of embarrassment? Madam Speaker, doesn’t the Opposition Leader feel any sense of embarrassment?
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: You accused the Treasury of losing $1bn. He then went on to say that we had understated Commonwealth revenues. He said we are going to get more. Based on what? It is like young Denis runs along to the bank manager, he has just got his first job and he says: ‘I am just a tally clerk, but I am going to be the managing director. Can you give me a loan for a house based on a managing director’s salary?’.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We are talking about bank managers. You did ask the Chief Minister to keep answers short and to the point.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, I am afraid answers to questions have been extremely long today. Look, nearly 25 minutes and we are not finished the fourth question. Come on, Chief Minister, on with it.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, it is a serious issue. We listened to a load of rubbish in here yesterday; a load of rubbish when the Opposition Leader said we should be inflating Commonwealth revenues. It is no wonder the CLP got us into such debt. Then he claimed there was no new capital works expenditure. $176m of that $333m cash is new works, yet the Opposition Leader said: ‘No new works. You are just doing what the CLP put in place.’ What a load of rubbish! Parap Primary, Nhulunbuy High, renal unit, hospice; the list goes on and on and on. That is just a start of the rubbish we heard yesterday. It is a great budget, it is delivering for today, it is investing for our future and, basically, they had nothing to say.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016