Debates Day 3 - Thursday 1 May 2003
Parliamentary Record 11
Debates for 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005
2003-05-01
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Thursday 1 May 2003 Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Araluen, could you turn this way? Yes, continue with debate. Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, thankfully, there are schoolchildren in the audience, and many adults, including myself, who are Harry Potter fans, so I can use with confidence the words Draco Malfoy. We do not want much in this community other than to live safely. It distresses all o f us to see what goes on, and I defy members opposite to walk the streets of Alice Springs dining the day and night and to tell the people who are sitting in the Chamber listening to this broadcast, or on this side of the House, that all is well and nothing is wrong because for as long as the Australian Labor Party is in government, things will be wrong, and it appears as though they will become much worse. Visitors Madam SPEAKER: Before we adjourn for lunch, I do want to acknowledge the students from the Irrkerlantye Learning Centre in the gallery. On behalf of all members, I extend them a warm welcome. Members: Hear, hear! Madam SPEAKER: For the people in the gallery, we had a ministerial statement earlier in the week by the Chief Minister and members are responding to that statement. We are about to hear the member for Greatorexs response. MOTION Note statement - Development and Vision for Central Australia and Its People Continued from earlier this day. Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I rise to respond to the Chief Ministers statement at this historic sittings of parliament in Alice Springs. Indeed, I am very pleased that, at long last, the sittings are here for the citizens of our Central Australian community. I am doubly pleased, as the shadow minister for Central Australia and a local member of the Assembly, that these historic sittings are in my electorate of Greatorex. On behalf of all constituents of the electorate of Greatorex, I extend a warm welcome to everyone in the Chamber. These sittings in Alice Springs have been a dream of mine since we were both elected, Madam Speaker, back in 1994. The late Roger Vale, the former member for Braitling and former Speaker, also dreamt of a time when we could hold a sittings of parliament in Central Australia. At long last, with the advent of this facility, the convention centre, it is all possible. Alice Springs people have come in large numbers to witness this event. Many of my own constituents have been here and will be here to experience for themselves what many of us and the people of Darwin take for granted. I hand delivered a letter of invitation to constituents in every home and caravan park in Greatorex and, as a result, several have already attended. I want to concentrate my remarks about the Chief Ministers statement in a Central Australian perspective. I recall that when I first arrived in Alice Springs in early 1981, this was already a bustling metropolis in the centre of the desert, growing at an enviable rate of 6% per year. I have followed the fortunes of Central Australia ever since. In the years under the CLP government, many things were accomplished. Treated as a backwater of Australia, the respective federal governments of the day neglected the Territory. It was only through the concerted efforts of successive CLP governments since self-government that much has been achieved here in Alice Springs, as has been achieved throughout the Territory. We saw the development of Yulara and the resorts in it; the development of the casino, now Lasseters Casino, and its continuing growth to what it is today, with this convention centre. We saw the development of many four- and five-star hotels in Central Australia so that we could accommodate the extended range of tourists who would come to Central Australia. We saw the development of the Araluen Arts Centre, which houses, as part of its collection, the Namatjira Collection and is now part of a cultural precinct which includes the Strehlow Centre and the Aviation Museum. We witnessed the completion of the sealing of the Smart Highway. I recall the days of driving on a corrugated gravel road to Adelaide, and on a one-lane bitumen road to Darwin. Now we enjoy the double-lane bitumen ribbon which extends between Darwin and Alice Springs and to destinations south. The CLP can hold its head high on its achievements in Central Australia. It was responsible for the initiation of the Central Australian Masters Games, held biannually and due again next year. Before I embark on the Chief Ministers statement, I feel the need to set the record straight about Virgin Blue Airlines. It was not the Northern Territory government which brought Virgin Blue to Darwin ... Mr Henderson: Yes, it was. 3957