Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE - 2012-02-23
Territory taxpayers deserve to know about the $6m cost of government leases on Aboriginal land and also what the rates payable on that land will cost. An article in The Australian on 26 November 2011 regarding the Aboriginals Benefit Account said:
Can you confirm that the $6m in lease payments to land trusts is simply recycled from the ABA? If that is not the case, can you advise how you will fund lease and rate payments?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Katherine. Clearly, he does not listen to my responses in this House. In fact, it was at the end of last year when I proudly, on behalf of the Northern Territory government, spoke about the important decision our government has made regarding paying rent on Aboriginal land across the Northern Territory.
I have consistently said in this House that this is about a new way of doing business with Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory, between governments and Aboriginal people, at the federal, Northern Territory, and local government level ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Yesterday, the minister rambled on for minutes about the same type of question. I am asking the question again today and I expect to get an answer from her ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I am raising relevance, and ask you to direct the minister to actually answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, you will resume your seat.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, they clearly have no positive agenda for the bush other than moving every Aboriginal person to the Stuart Highway, because the policy of the CLP is that they are hellholes ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113:
This is not.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the question, please.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, there were quite a number of questions within that question, so bear with me.
I refer the member for Katherine to a comment and a response to this very similar question which he likes to keep asking. I advised the House in December 2011 of the expected costs. The rent payments will initially be in the order of $3m per year and could potentially rise to around $5m per year – not the $6m the member for Katherine likes to bring into this parliament. He obviously does not listen to any of the responses I give to this House and wants to divide the people of the Northern Territory ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I will accept the minister’s correction on the amount of money, but I ask again: where is the money coming from? Is it coming from the ABA or elsewhere?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, the minister is still answering the question.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, our government has proudly injected nearly $1bn into the regions of the Northern Territory, unlike the opposition, which has no policies whatsoever for Indigenous people across the Northern Territory.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There are 20 seconds left and the minister still has not answered where the money is coming from.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Katherine, you keep interjecting. Minister, come to the point.
Ms McCARTHY: Our government is fully committed to financially supporting the Indigenous people of the Northern Territory, unlike the CLP, whose policy, like all its policies, is written in invisible ink ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Is it the case the minister does not know, or are you hiding something, minister?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat.
- ... according to sources, Macklin removed $200m for future uses. It is expected that the lion’s share of these funds will be used for two purposes: to meet long-promised payments for the initial five-year NTER leases over prescribed communities and local housing precincts; and to fund outstations and homelands, now the responsibility of the Darwin government.
Can you confirm that the $6m in lease payments to land trusts is simply recycled from the ABA? If that is not the case, can you advise how you will fund lease and rate payments?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Katherine. Clearly, he does not listen to my responses in this House. In fact, it was at the end of last year when I proudly, on behalf of the Northern Territory government, spoke about the important decision our government has made regarding paying rent on Aboriginal land across the Northern Territory.
I have consistently said in this House that this is about a new way of doing business with Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory, between governments and Aboriginal people, at the federal, Northern Territory, and local government level ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Yesterday, the minister rambled on for minutes about the same type of question. I am asking the question again today and I expect to get an answer from her ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I am raising relevance, and ask you to direct the minister to actually answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, you will resume your seat.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, they clearly have no positive agenda for the bush other than moving every Aboriginal person to the Stuart Highway, because the policy of the CLP is that they are hellholes ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113:
- An answer shall be succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question.
This is not.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the question, please.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, there were quite a number of questions within that question, so bear with me.
I refer the member for Katherine to a comment and a response to this very similar question which he likes to keep asking. I advised the House in December 2011 of the expected costs. The rent payments will initially be in the order of $3m per year and could potentially rise to around $5m per year – not the $6m the member for Katherine likes to bring into this parliament. He obviously does not listen to any of the responses I give to this House and wants to divide the people of the Northern Territory ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I will accept the minister’s correction on the amount of money, but I ask again: where is the money coming from? Is it coming from the ABA or elsewhere?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, the minister is still answering the question.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, our government has proudly injected nearly $1bn into the regions of the Northern Territory, unlike the opposition, which has no policies whatsoever for Indigenous people across the Northern Territory.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There are 20 seconds left and the minister still has not answered where the money is coming from.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Katherine, you keep interjecting. Minister, come to the point.
Ms McCARTHY: Our government is fully committed to financially supporting the Indigenous people of the Northern Territory, unlike the CLP, whose policy, like all its policies, is written in invisible ink ...
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Is it the case the minister does not know, or are you hiding something, minister?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016