Nt Debates Day 6 28 August 2014
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DEBATES – Thursday 28 August 2014 Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am. and the last 18 months under his failed leadership have left the public wondering where the shreds of VISITORS integrity exist in government today. We saw, for the third Question Time this week, consistent with Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I Question Time last week, this government, the advise of the presence in the gallery of two Year 6 Chief Minister and the Attorney-General fail and classes from Driver Primary School accompanied refuse e to answer the most basic questions by Brianna Grazioli and Bryan Downing. On around the resignation of magistrate Peter Maley, behalf of honourable members, welcome to just as last week they failed to grapple and deal Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time with what the public knew was wrong: the here. homophobic rant by the Deputy Chief Minister. The disgraced member for Fong Lim, if this Chief Members: Hear, hear! Minister gets his way, will be returned to the spot of Deputy Chief Minister on Monday. LEAVE OF ABSENCE Member for Wanguri The member for Fong Lim is holding the government to ransom, because he has made Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I threats in the parliamentary wing that he will walk ask that leave of absence be granted to the out of parliament altogether, prompting a by- member for Wanguri today for personal reasons. election in the seat of Fong Lim. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, we are not Threatening - because there is a stench around expecting baby Manison any time soon. The this government and there is more to come out member for Wanguri is not here today for personal about this scandalous Peter Maley affair, the reasons. scandalous CLP connections and the scandalous government - that they risk losing the seat of Fong Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Lim. If they risk losing the seat of Fong Lim, we Business): Madam Speaker, we support the are in the situation that we found ourselves in motion. We are all aware of the member for before, they risk going into minority government. Wanguri’s circumstances and I am sure I can comfortably speak for all members of this House That is the real threat the member for Fong Lim is to wish her the very best. holding over the head of his government, and holding it to ransom on. It is a disgrace that a Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, on behalf Chief Minister does not have the authority to exert of the Independents I also wish the member for on his own parliamentary wing the choice of a Wanguri all the best and recommend, if it is a boy, Deputy Chief Minister, to walk in here for sittings she knows what name to call it. and have a Deputy Chief Minister sit next to him. It is unprecedented in any Australian parliament Members: Hear, hear! that there is not a Deputy Chief Minister, or a Deputy Premier, filling a seat going into Leave granted. parliament. It is unprecedented that you leave such an important public office vacant, because LEAVE OF ABSENCE there is a vacuum of leadership by this Chief Member for Arafura Minister. Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I This censure is about a breach of trust to seek leave for my colleague, the member for Territorians, who have a reasonable expectation Arafura, for personal reasons. that a government will operate ethically, free from undue influence, rather than in the interests of a Leave granted. few select mates who exert undue influence on government decision-making through close MOTION financial ties. Proposed Censure of Chief Minister and CLP Government In the two short years since the CLP came to office, we have seen persistent conflicts of Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam interest, cover-ups, scandals and blatant lies. The Speaker, I move that this House censure the Chief modus operandi of this government is always to Minister and the CLP government for their lies, deny, cover-up and deceive when unethical, culture of cover-up and failure to govern with the inappropriate or corrupt behaviour is exposed. integrity and honesty Territorians require. There is no clearer example of this than the Chief Minister’s persistent statements in this House, It will be no surprise to Territorians that this House denying he had any links with Foundation 51. moves to censure the Chief Minister. It has been the most disgraceful period of any Chief Minister This is what he said in this House: 1 DEBATES – Thursday 28 August 2014 In relation to Foundation 51 and any I can confirm that I have had a discussion directorship Peter Maley may, or may not with Tina MacFarlane about her water have had, I am not aware of how that works licence which occurred, to the best of my and I do not know about Foundation 51. recollection, in January 2013 at my There is no connection between electorate office in Katherine. I have had Foundation 51 and the CLP as a legal one meeting, I think, with Peter Maley. It body. was only a few months ago. That is a lie, but we now know from Graeme He was following the lead of his Chief Minister, Lewis, Foundation 51 Director and CLP who denied in this parliament any involvement of Management Committee member that - and I his Cabinet in the allocation of water licences. quote from his e-mail to CLP President Ross Connelly: In awarding these licences, the government has ignored the legitimate interests of our I have made the Chief Minister aware of stakeholders, including farmers, AFANT, this probability, much to his concern, he Indigenous communities and the NT Environment and I have on many occasions discussed Centre. the matter of the Foundation and he is well disposed to having the Foundation continue The appointment of Graeme Lewis as director of its activity with the wall between the entities the CLP slush fund, Foundation 51, was a clear currently fixed in place. conflict of interest from the start. He was appointed as Chair of the government’s Land Deceit like this does not get much more brazen. Development Corporation. Emails from Mr Lewis, The Chief Minister has clearly known about the tabled in this Assembly, clearly indicated, despite nature and activities of this CLP slush fund for a denials, that Foundation 51 fundraises for the CLP very long time. Not only has this Chief Minister and supported its campaign in the recent Blain by- known about it all along, and not only has he lied election. This is a clear breach of the political to Territorians about his knowledge, but he has donation disclosure provisions of Territory and actively encouraged the CLP and the slush fund Commonwealth legislation. directors to operate in the clandestine way that it does. Former magistrate, Peter Maley, admitted recently that he had donated money to Foundation 51 and We can see this is a clear pattern in the Chief it is known, on the public record, that he continued Minister’s behaviour of denying wrong doing and his directorship of Foundation 51 while sitting as a misleading the parliament when he is exposed magistrate. Despite this, both the Chief Minister and then covering up his direct involvement. It is and the Attorney-General persistently refused to clear that this Chief Minister and his crooked CLP investigate or terminate Mr Maley’s appointment. government have said about to deliberatively mislead this parliament and deliberately lie to We understand both the Australian Electoral Territorians. Commission and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission are investigating the CLP’s slush Another example of this is the CLP’s over- fund, Foundation 51. allocation of water from vital Territory aquifers to facilitate the granting of licenses to CLP mates. There are very close parallels between Foundation 51 and the corrupt activities of Eight- Evidence from estimates hearings confirms the by-Five, a Liberal Party slush fund recently Minister for Land Resource Management - exposed by ICAC in New South Wales. A although he had previously denied it - was directly common thread between the New South Wales involved in the allocation of huge licences to Liberal Party’s slush funds and Foundation 51 is former CLP candidate, Tina MacFarlane and the appointment of political mates to keep former magistrate, CLP member of parliament, positions in commercial and regulatory and director of Foundation 51, Peter Maley. environments. In response to a written question, the minister Let me run through some on this list: Graham denied he had ever discussed these licences with Lewis, director of Foundation 51, member of the either Tina MacFarlane or Peter Maley but, under CLP management committee, appointed as Chair the pressure of questions in estimates, he of the Land Development Corporation – a clear confirmed he had held discussions behind closed conflict of interest. Denis Burke, former CLP Chief doors about the licences and their business Minister and political lobbyist, appointed as Chair interests. On 17 June this year, the member for of the Development Consent Authority – a clear Katherine said: conflict of interest which has caused grave concern in the Territory development community. 2 DEBATES – Thursday 28 August 2014 The Chief Minister has refused to disclose the teachers have been sacked when, in estimates, financial arrangements and secret discussions we uncovered the facts that at least 125 teachers with former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, prior to his have been sacked from our schools. The Chief appointment to the created position of NT Minister pretends it is okay out in the schools and Commissioner to Indonesia and ASEAN, with a that teachers are getting great support when they budget of $750 000 per year, footed by the have sacked 60 support staff from our schools.