Mr STONE - 1997-04-24
Did the Leader of the Opposition use a taxpayer-funded air fare to attend an ALP fund-raiser in Sydney, and how much did the fund-raiser realise for the Labor Party in the Territory?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I was intending to make a personal explanation later, but the Chief Minister has afforded me the opportunity to speak about this now. The answer to his first question is no. I did not use an air fare funded by taxpayers to attend an ALP function. In fact, I used taxpayers' money for the legitimate purpose of attending meetings in New South Wales. I will mention a couple of those that the Chief Minister may be interested in.
Mr Stone: So it was a taxpayer-funded air fare?
Mrs HICKEY: It was a taxpayer-funded air fare. It was used for the purpose of meeting with the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mrs HICKEY: You have asked me the question. Please do me the courtesy of listening to the response. I had that meeting with Bob Carr and I think even the Chief Minister would be pleased with the result. After several meetings with the Premier of New South Wales over the last few months, and telephone calls and discussions with his department, I finally elicited from him an undertaking that he would no longer stand in the way of the Territory achieving statehood.
Mr Stirling: That is something you could not do.
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Mrs HICKEY: That is right. It was something that the Chief Minister failed dismally to achieve. The Premier of New South Wales was the remaining leader who stood in the way, who raised the issues at COAG, and who put the spanner in the works of the Northern Territory obtaining statehood. I believe that that was a significant concession by the Premier of New South Wales.
In one of the other meetings that I attended in Sydney, I spoke to people from a migrant settlement agency. I had the opportunity to speak informally to a lady from this agency on a previous visit to Sydney and I was interested to find that they had heard very little about the Northern Territory in terms of the resettlement of migrants coming to Australia. That interested me because one of our aspirations in the Northern Territory is to attract skilled migrants from other countries, albeit in a difficult climate now that the Coalition has made immigration more difficult. I wanted to pursue that issue further with that person and others. If the Chief Minister is a little patient, he will see in ALP policy some indication of the direction we would like to take on that. I believe that will be of value to the Northern Territory in gaining skilled workers.
In relation to the fund-raiser, I attended that at lunchtime. I hope that the Chief Minister will allow ...
Mr Stirling: You are not allowed to have one.
Mr Stone: This is the only reason you went to Sydney.
Mrs HICKEY: Even the Labor Party leader is allowed to have a lunch break. I believe what I do in my lunchtime is really my own business.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I was intending to make a personal explanation later, but the Chief Minister has afforded me the opportunity to speak about this now. The answer to his first question is no. I did not use an air fare funded by taxpayers to attend an ALP function. In fact, I used taxpayers' money for the legitimate purpose of attending meetings in New South Wales. I will mention a couple of those that the Chief Minister may be interested in.
Mr Stone: So it was a taxpayer-funded air fare?
Mrs HICKEY: It was a taxpayer-funded air fare. It was used for the purpose of meeting with the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mrs HICKEY: You have asked me the question. Please do me the courtesy of listening to the response. I had that meeting with Bob Carr and I think even the Chief Minister would be pleased with the result. After several meetings with the Premier of New South Wales over the last few months, and telephone calls and discussions with his department, I finally elicited from him an undertaking that he would no longer stand in the way of the Territory achieving statehood.
Mr Stirling: That is something you could not do.
Page 2062
Mrs HICKEY: That is right. It was something that the Chief Minister failed dismally to achieve. The Premier of New South Wales was the remaining leader who stood in the way, who raised the issues at COAG, and who put the spanner in the works of the Northern Territory obtaining statehood. I believe that that was a significant concession by the Premier of New South Wales.
In one of the other meetings that I attended in Sydney, I spoke to people from a migrant settlement agency. I had the opportunity to speak informally to a lady from this agency on a previous visit to Sydney and I was interested to find that they had heard very little about the Northern Territory in terms of the resettlement of migrants coming to Australia. That interested me because one of our aspirations in the Northern Territory is to attract skilled migrants from other countries, albeit in a difficult climate now that the Coalition has made immigration more difficult. I wanted to pursue that issue further with that person and others. If the Chief Minister is a little patient, he will see in ALP policy some indication of the direction we would like to take on that. I believe that will be of value to the Northern Territory in gaining skilled workers.
In relation to the fund-raiser, I attended that at lunchtime. I hope that the Chief Minister will allow ...
Mr Stirling: You are not allowed to have one.
Mr Stone: This is the only reason you went to Sydney.
Mrs HICKEY: Even the Labor Party leader is allowed to have a lunch break. I believe what I do in my lunchtime is really my own business.
Page 2063
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016