Page 3308 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Just bear with me, Mrs Carnell. Madam Speaker, it is there in black and white. It says "a slight decline", not a real increase.
Mrs Carnell: With inoperatives in?
MS FOLLETT: Indeed, with inoperatives in. I suggest that you just settle down and listen, and you will get the answer. It may save you from another error. I can advise the Assembly that the total number of staff on the payroll at the end of the last financial year - full-time, part-time and inoperatives included - was 22,141. That is a decline. In fact, it is 664 lower than at the same time the previous year. I think that this is a rather more serious issue than first meets the eye.
Mrs Carnell aspires to lead the Territory and, indeed, she could well be elected as Chief Minister. She is showing us all that she will say and do anything, without checking, in order to get the cheap headline. Time and time again the statistics have been proven to be Mrs Carnell's downfall. Not so very long ago she had to admit an error on the tourism figures; she was forced to admit an error. Today she has been caught out in another error. I have no doubt that my colleagues have proven her wrong on many other occasions. I can advise Mrs Carnell that being a leader does give you a responsibility to act in the best interests of the community. You cannot run around whipping up hysteria in the way that Mrs Carnell does, making very casual and ill-thought out, unfounded allegations. I think, Madam Speaker, Mrs Carnell does need to improve her performance if she wants to be taken seriously as the alternative Chief Minister.
Government Service - Credit Card Cash Advances
MR DE DOMENICO: Madam Speaker, I ask the Chief Minister a question as well. I refer the Chief Minister to a particular incident cited in the Auditor-General's report yesterday which makes reference to a $1,070 cash advance taken out against a government credit card by an SES officer. The Auditor-General, Madam Speaker, makes reference to the inability of audit officers to obtain evidence that this money has been repaid by the officer concerned. Will the Chief Minister confirm that this incident relates to a matter which occurred as part of her delegation to Japan last year?
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, I would ask Mr De Domenico to clarify whether he holds me responsible for this $1,000.
Mr De Domenico: A supplementary question.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
Mr De Domenico: My question to the Chief Minister was: Will the Chief Minister confirm that this incident relates to a matter which occurred as part of the delegation to Japan last year?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .