Mrs HICKEY - 1996-11-21
I ask a supplementary question. The minister has again denied that there has been any misdoing and I ask the question again. I have a copy of a memorandum from the then Secretary of the Department of Health and Community Services, dated 17 May, which states:
The minister wishes to write to all pensioners in the Northern Territory advising them of their rights under
the Pensioner Concession Scheme. Accordingly, could you please arrange, as a matter of urgency, a download
of the names and addresses of all pensioners currently on our Pensioner Concession Scheme database for the
above purpose.
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a copy of that memorandum.
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, 17 May was the very day the Country Liberal Party called the 1994 election. I seek leave to table a copy a letter written on 30 May 1994, by the Country Liberal Party, to all pensioners, detailing information on their pensioner concessions.
Leave granted.
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Mr SPEAKER: I assume that the Leader of the Opposition is moving towards asking her question.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, I will be very brief. This occurred 2 weeks after the memorandum from the secretary of the department and in the final week of the 1994 election campaign. This letter is written on Country Liberal Party letterhead, signed by Marshall Perron and authorised by the Country Liberal Party. It is a political letter used for political purposes. Will the minister now admit that this letter was written, using the pensioner database provided by the Health Department? Will he admit now that he has misled the House?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, during the period in question, I was commanding a cavalry regiment. I had absolutely no interest in politics although I may have been considering my future career at that time. I have given the answers to the questions asked. I have absolutely no knowledge of the sort of the information that the Leader of the Opposition is talking about.
Mr Bailey: You misled the House. You lied in here.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that remark.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, I withdraw the remark, but he should resign.
Mr STONE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He simply withdrew his interjection that the minister should resign. He in fact said the minister lied. He has not withdrawn that allegation.
Mr SPEAKER: As I understood it, he did withdraw it.
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The minister wishes to write to all pensioners in the Northern Territory advising them of their rights under
the Pensioner Concession Scheme. Accordingly, could you please arrange, as a matter of urgency, a download
of the names and addresses of all pensioners currently on our Pensioner Concession Scheme database for the
above purpose.
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a copy of that memorandum.
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, 17 May was the very day the Country Liberal Party called the 1994 election. I seek leave to table a copy a letter written on 30 May 1994, by the Country Liberal Party, to all pensioners, detailing information on their pensioner concessions.
Leave granted.
Page 1792
Mr SPEAKER: I assume that the Leader of the Opposition is moving towards asking her question.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, I will be very brief. This occurred 2 weeks after the memorandum from the secretary of the department and in the final week of the 1994 election campaign. This letter is written on Country Liberal Party letterhead, signed by Marshall Perron and authorised by the Country Liberal Party. It is a political letter used for political purposes. Will the minister now admit that this letter was written, using the pensioner database provided by the Health Department? Will he admit now that he has misled the House?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, during the period in question, I was commanding a cavalry regiment. I had absolutely no interest in politics although I may have been considering my future career at that time. I have given the answers to the questions asked. I have absolutely no knowledge of the sort of the information that the Leader of the Opposition is talking about.
Mr Bailey: You misled the House. You lied in here.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that remark.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, I withdraw the remark, but he should resign.
Mr STONE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He simply withdrew his interjection that the minister should resign. He in fact said the minister lied. He has not withdrawn that allegation.
Mr SPEAKER: As I understood it, he did withdraw it.
Page 1793
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016