Ms MARTIN - 1996-08-22
The minister appears almost daily in our newspapers and on television exhorting Territorians to buy `NT-made'. He is currently building a house in Alice Springs. Is it a fact that he purchased a significant amount of building materials from suppliers outside the Territory - including glazing materials for which he did not even bother to seek quotes from Alice Springs suppliers?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, my wife is building a house.
Mr Stirling She does not buy locally.
Page 1547
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: However, my understanding - and I would have to check with her to be exactly correct ...
Mr Bailey: Is it a separate company structure?
Mr POOLE: No, it is not a separate company at all. My wife is building a house. This is the second house that she has built. If my memory is correct, she did probably buy the windows from Adelaide. To my knowledge, of probably $0.25m- worth, that was all she bought interstate for the whole project. I assure honourable members that she definitely obtained quotes locally. Obviously, she then turned to Adelaide because of the considerable savings to be made through buying them there. In the total scheme of things ...
Members interjecting.
Mr POOLE: I do not know what windows cost these days. Probably they cost $5000 or $6000 for the total project. I do not know.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are again taking it just a little too far. I ask that they remember that Question Time is being broadcast, and I expect a little more decorum.
Mr POOLE: As I have exhorted people to do previously on television, I will certainly continue to suggest that they buy locally. Obviously, some products happen to be cheaper elsewhere. It is a fact of life. My wife has contributed probably in excess of $0.2m to the economy of Alice Springs in her own right, and I think she should be admired for that. She obtained prices locally. However, she did not obtain samples there, and keep those samples while buying the goods elsewhere, as the Leader of the Opposition did.
Page 1548
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, my wife is building a house.
Mr Stirling She does not buy locally.
Page 1547
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: However, my understanding - and I would have to check with her to be exactly correct ...
Mr Bailey: Is it a separate company structure?
Mr POOLE: No, it is not a separate company at all. My wife is building a house. This is the second house that she has built. If my memory is correct, she did probably buy the windows from Adelaide. To my knowledge, of probably $0.25m- worth, that was all she bought interstate for the whole project. I assure honourable members that she definitely obtained quotes locally. Obviously, she then turned to Adelaide because of the considerable savings to be made through buying them there. In the total scheme of things ...
Members interjecting.
Mr POOLE: I do not know what windows cost these days. Probably they cost $5000 or $6000 for the total project. I do not know.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are again taking it just a little too far. I ask that they remember that Question Time is being broadcast, and I expect a little more decorum.
Mr POOLE: As I have exhorted people to do previously on television, I will certainly continue to suggest that they buy locally. Obviously, some products happen to be cheaper elsewhere. It is a fact of life. My wife has contributed probably in excess of $0.2m to the economy of Alice Springs in her own right, and I think she should be admired for that. She obtained prices locally. However, she did not obtain samples there, and keep those samples while buying the goods elsewhere, as the Leader of the Opposition did.
Page 1548
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016