Debates Day 2 - Wednesday 27 November 2002
Parliamentary Record 9
Debates for 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005
2002-11-27
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Wednesday 27 November 2002 today, because I think I am sitting in the Chair tomorrow, so my chances of perhaps getting a few words in tomorrow might be a bit grim. I wish all my staff - this might sound to be a lot of staff for one person - Jo, Jenny, Lida, Liz and Loz. The reason I have Jo, Jenny, Lida, Liz and Loz, is because one of my staff works for four days and one staff works for one day in my electorate office. Then one of those staff is not working at the moment, she has taken six months off, so I had to get another staff member. One of those staff is going to university some days, so I have had to get another staff member. So I have ended up having four electorate officers at the moment. I know it sounds complicated. Of course, I have Loz-everyone knows Loz, she is the good lady who knows how to work the Internet for me and do the research when I need it. I wish them all a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year. To all the staff at the Assembly - there is one poor bloke sitting down the front there all by himself - and his colleagues and all the people who do help us, they are a great group of people to work with and they certainly help me. I could not get through being Chairman of Committees without them. To all my parliamentary colleagues, whether you agree or disagree with me, whether I vote with you or do not vote with you, that is beside the point. The one thing we should be trying to bring to this parliament, regardless of what side of politics we are on, is a feeling that we are Territorians working for the benefit of the Territory. Dr Burns: We love you anyway, Gerry. Mr Scrymgour: Didnt you hear the member for Johnston? Mr WOOD: Oh, I heard him. He was ... Ms Scrymgour: We love you, Gerry. Mr WOOD: Thats right, thank you. But I hope he fixes up his pronunciation of Coomalie. That is the only thing that worries me. He was using the Irish version Coo-mar-lee, because Dr Bums comes from long Irish stock. Mr Elferink: He would have been the member for Jin-gar-lee. Mr WOOD: That is right, and Parrup. Anyway, we have got off the track there. As I said, I would like to wish everybody here a happy Christmas. It is a pity we cannot wish everybody a happy Christmas every day and keep that friendliness right through the year. To my family, I know they will be glad to see me at Christmas, because most of the time they do not see me. I will be wishing them a happy Christmas and, hopefully, everybody is there. We will be celebrating that at Bachelor, about 10 km out of Bachelor in the bush, so that will be a great day. Lastly, I thank all the people of Nelson for all the support they have given, and especially for FOG. For those who do not know FOG, it is not a secret organisation, but you will only find it in the Nelson electorate. It is a little group of supporters called the Friends of Gerry. I would like to thank them very much. We meet about three times a year. It is nice to know there are people out there who, of all political persuasions, I think Friends of Gerry have left, right and in between people, when it comes to political viewpoints. I get a fairly well balanced group of people who tell me what they think about various issues. I certainly thank them very much. Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I give recognition to a number of individuals and organisations in my electorate. At this time of the year, it is always an opportunity to acknowledge the work and the commitment of those individuals and, in particular, for the hard work over the last 11 months. I am certainly looking forward to seeing a number of them in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas. Barry Puruntatameri and his wife Teresita, or Kilapawu. Kilapawu is the president of the girls school at Nguiu. Both have, for many years, strived to better the social and cultural environment in the community for the maintenance and future of all Tiwi children. Having gone to the Tiwi Islands a number of times lately and, in particular Nguiu, there are certainly some real issues with alcohol and the influx and continual increase of cannabis on the island and causing a lot of grief amongst, and with the community over there. Gawain Tipiloura, who has recently been appointed the community services manager at Nguiu. Gawain is the son of the former member for Arafura, Stanley Tipiloura. Having seen this young fellow growing up from the child he was, into the man he is, when you have a look it is almost taking a step back in time and looking at his father all over again. It is certainly heartening to see him playing the lead role that he is in the community at the moment. John and Joy Naden who have been on the island at Nguiu for some time. They are two non-Tiwi people who have been living over there for more than 10 years, and have often gone unrecognised for 3116