Debates Day 3 - Thursday 21 October 2010
Parliamentary Record 15
Debates for 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012
2010-10-21
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Thursday 21 October 2010 government is prepared to treat uranium explorers. To have to listen to this tripe the Chief Minister trots out is definitely wrong. This is a victory of delusion over reality, and it will be seen as such by any sensible person in our community. Mr KNIGHT (Business and Employment): Dave, I want to give you a hug. You are an extremely lonely, upset and angry man. 28 October is national Give Dave a Hug Day, and I want to get in early. You are a very sad man. You are the only member of the opposition backbench of the smallest parliament in the nation. You are the loneliest man in politics in Australia. I feel for you, member for Fong Lim. You are extremely upset; you have been abandoned. Your colleagues went to water around you. You are a very talented politician and it is sad your colleagues - you should call them old jelly-back ... Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! There has to be some point of relevance to this. I would like to get the member close to the statement at hand, because Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is? Mr BOHLIN: Relevance. Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, if you could please direct your remarks to the statement. I do not believe you have a problem at the moment, but if you could bring it into the statement it would be much appreciated. Mr KNIGHT: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I am leveraging off the statement from the loneliest politician in the country. He did not mention marine supply base once in his contribution. It was the most wide-ranging statement I have ever heard. I do not know what crime in Alice Springs has to do with a marine supply base in Darwin. He is an extremely upset man - you have many jelly-backs over there. They went to water; they did not back you up. They should have Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Relevance. If he is not going to get on with it, get him to sit down, please. Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, if you could please direct your comments to the statement. The member for Fong Lim did roam widely, and obviously there is some Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I did not. I quoted directly from the Chief Ministers statement. Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order, member for Fong Lim, sit down. You are on warning, member for Fong Lim. The minister has the call. Mr KNIGHT: I believe he took a packed lunch and dinner on that roving expedition around the countryside about a marine supply base in Alice Springs. I am delighted to support the Chief Ministers announcement in support of a marine supply base. The Chief Minister was correct in saying a marine supply base is needed in the Northern Territory, and its timing in relation to the strength of the Northern Territory economy is not surprising. The move to establish a marine supply base in Darwin is timely and essential, with many companies operating in our oil and gas industry, choosing Darwin as the place for a service and supply hub. As this government continues to encourage and support companies involved in the oil and gas industry to the Northern Territory, a growing need for a separate facility at the East Arm Port area to meet the current and future requirements of an expanding oil and gas industry in the Northern Territory has been delivered by this government. The marine supply base will provide dedicated infrastructure with fast turnaround times for the service and supply needs of the offshore oil and gas industry. The government is working to address the needs of the oil and gas industry. Mr GILES: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House. It is a very important speech by Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: We are lacking a quorum. Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Minister, you have the call. Mr KNIGHT: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The government is working to address the needs of the oil and gas industry with the market and the opportunity for the marine supply base to develop. The action is needed now to secure business opportunities and economic value for the Northern Territory. We have the economic platform, the projects, and the prospects for the development to see the Northern Territory into a more prosperous future. As the Chief Minister highlighted, our economy is strong. We must continue to provide a strong platform for future economic growth. As mentioned earlier, it is not an accident, nor is it a surprise that the Northern Territory is performing strongly, as evidenced by our strong economic data. The value of our economy measured by our growth state product in 2008-09 was $16.3bn, up from $15.9bn in the previous financial year. This 6528