Falklands : Falklands: MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT SPEECH OF THE HON MR GAVIN SHORT
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.06.2012 (Article Archived on 16.06.2012)
Mr Speaker, honourable Members, In rising to speak to the Motion for Adjournment I would like to, as promised on Wednesday, address some of the items in the Governor’s State of the Nation speech and indeed others that flowed from the budget. I guess the budget would be a good place to start.
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT SPEECH OF THE HON MR GAVIN SHORT
Mr Speaker, honourable Members, In rising to speak to the Motion for Adjournment I would like to, as promised on Wednesday, address some of the items in the Governor’s State of the Nation speech and indeed others that flowed from the budget. I guess the budget would be a good place to start.
Public expectations for large pay increases and dropping of some charges etc. seemed to have been heightened this year, I suspect due to the monies received by the Government from the oil exploration activities. I hope that we have used some of these monies in a way that will have a positive, direct and indirect effect for our people here. But I know this does not go as far as some people out there would like.
We have been accused by some of being over cautious through to being somewhat parsimonious. I think I might have to go into my gloomy mode and gently remind people that we have to be a little realistic. Oil exploration, if it stays as it is and no other players enter the field is going to end this year when the Leif Ericsson Toddles off. There is nothing that I am aware of after that. There may be someone sat here at the table or indeed in the community who knows different but I certainly don’t.
Rockhopper has given some very upbeat statements and more power to their elbow but as far as I know, they have not got a farm-in partner yet nor possibly the cash to make their statements or predictions turn into reality. I sincerely hope that they do find someone and start further exploration and exploitation but I for one will be dancing a jig of happiness on the front road when the black stuff starts to flow. But until then, we have to be cautious. There will, I am sure, be further seismic work going on down here but actual exploration and exploitation could well be a long way off.
And it would be absolute lunacy to get carried away with what has happened this year and start spending like drunken sailors, only to have to make swinging cut-backs and increases in following years when there isn’t much happening on the oil front – if that is the way it goes. Better to go slowly but steadily. I am sorry to be a bit brutal but I think we may be getting a bit carried away and almost starting down the road to wanting to spend what we may never have for a good many years at least.
That said, I think some of the budgetary changes this year go some way to recognising that people at the lower end of the pay scale – single parents, the elderly etc. – are having a tough time. I join in with my colleagues around the table who want to look at targeting help to the areas that is required. Childcare is darned expensive, so is fuel, so is rent, so are prices being charged in the shops. The raising of the tax bar will help a bit but it is a pretty blunt instrument to use as it benefits those earning top whack just as much as it does those at the bottom of the heap.
But I hope it will send a signal that we are intent on doing our best to help those who need it. The problem is that it will take time to happen so I hope the raising of the threshold etc. will be seen as a signal that we do mean business.
Whilst we as a government do what we can to help the lower paid, at the end of the day it must be up to employers to give their workers a decent living wage. I am surprised that the workforce does not see the need to group together and enter into collective bargaining rather than waiting for central government to try and fix everything. I know this will not help everyone but would help to improve the lot of many.
I would like to thank all those involved in the budget process from the office staff in the contributing departments through to the Treasury staff and especially Margaret Butler who I know spent many nights at home burning the midnight oil typing up the minutes of the various select committee sessions, some of which were of the size to make the eyes boggle. So thank you all, it is very much appreciated.
This is, I believe, the first surplus budget since our election. It took time and also a bit of luck to turn around the deficit budget that we inherited. But before we start hauling out the champagne and congratulating ourselves we must remember that we are still in a pretty fragile state. Next year is predicted to be a deficit budget with break-even to surpluses after that. But all that can change in the blink of an eye.
We are living in the midst of what must be one of the worst economic crisis to sweep the world. The (United) States are showing some signs of recovery; China is slowing with Europe almost going into melt-down. And now South America is starting to wobble – especially our neighbours who seem to be heading towards the rocks whilst still shouting “More Steam, McFail!” A lot of their woes are of their own making but what I am trying to say is that we are in darned good shape here. We are so far surviving the rough waters of the crisis remarkably well. It may not always be like this. So let’s just be careful with what we get up to and try to spend wisely on items that we need and others that will generate activity in our economy and bring in cash from outside. We must widen our economic base.
As I said, this is the first surplus budget for some years and I wonder if this has anything to do with our acting Financial Secretary. If so then I think we should start a campaign to keep Nicola Granger in the Post.
Amongst the items listed in the Governor’s speech were many fine pieces of legislation that will be heading our way but I notice that there was a total absence of anything to do with the Minimum Wages Legislation. I know the Department that has the responsibility for this is woefully understaffed for what they are being asked to do but in some of my more mean spirited moments, I do wonder if perhaps there is a lack of appetite for a Minimum Wage in certain quarters and it is purposely being slipped back.
The writing of the necessary framework to make it happen isn’t rocket science. I think that I could probably sit down with my copy of the Blackstone Statutes on UK Labour Laws and knock out a piece of Falklands’ friendly piece of legislation without too much trouble and indeed may have to resort to this if nothing happens on this front for the next few months. I believe members can right and present EXCO papers and I may well be driven to exercising that right.
The 25th anniversary of our fisheries passed by quietly in a way mirroring the way our fisheries are managed. There was no great comforting or self-congratulations. In fact it could almost be said to be terribly understated. It has an awful lot that it could trumpet about and I would like to join with the comments made by the Honourable Jan Cheek about the fishery here. It has been managed well with sustainability and conservation being at the very centre of what they do. My grateful thanks to that department for what they have done over the years and also to FIFCA Members who also show that they believe firmly that whilst maximising what can be taken from the fishery, overexploitation is something that they shy away from.
As my colleague said, other nations who have control over their waters cannot be said to be so conscientious about their sustainability and indeed seem to use their fisheries as some sort of political weapon to try and ruin ours.
Whilst they will not succeed in their aims, they are, as I have said in this House before, driving some species to a very uncertain future and the madness is that by driving these poor creatures into extinction they will be hurting their own people in the process. But then again that particular country does not seem to care too much about their people except when they want their vote.
It is sad that there isn’t a regional body set up for the exchange of scientific data and setting regional take levels. And I am sure that if such an approach was made that we could have a non-politicised Fisheries Commission then we would be very, very much interested in co-operating.
PWD is very much like a Chernobyl Squid if such a beast existed – large and with many tentacles. And these tentacles go across many, many departments and we are involved in a great number of projects. And it isn’t any great surprise that they have a very large percentage of the Capital Project.
Some of these that are on the cards for the coming Financial year are: The Sapper Hill Development – and I believe we are about to start rolling on this one – it is expensive but we are, as a Government, committed to making housing plots available for our people. I do notice that in this year’s budget we only had the first phase and I do hope that in subsequent budgets we can find the money to go forward on the second phase.
The Alternative water supply – I am very grateful to my colleagues for voting the money to let us start on it for town. These last two years we have had close calls in that both summers were dry and extra water needed by the oil rigs – we came to a point this year we had to take decisions on just who could take water and in what amounts. The intention was that the last people to be affected would be the consumers but it wasn’t a comfortable position to be in. The project will take time as there will have to be environmental impact studies and the like. But its timing is just right as it will be carried out in the time between rigs if those predictions are true – and fits nicely into my belief that we can progress quietly planning for oil with projects that will be required if oil takes off. But even if it doesn’t are affordable and of use to our Islands.
Although not strictly ‘my baby,’ monies have been provided for the replacement of the asphalt section between the By-pass road between Town and the turn-off to the passa libre at Sapper Hill.
I am also happy to report that we have the go-ahead for the building of more council houses. And this particular programme has my full support and is something that in my view must be carried on year after year.
Also on-going is the move of the dockyard. I believe the first shed at Megabid which will be the Housing Department’s new pad may either be completed or close to it. Tenders for the second larger shed have been received and are being processed. There is probably going to be some slippage, which is regretful but unfortunately cannot be avoided.
The replacement of the public loos at the Jetty Centre is progressing through the design phase and the contracts, I believe, are advertised. In all honesty, it is expected that these will not be completely ready for the beginning of the tourist season. I would like to make special mention here of Carris Stevens, who has been working extremely hard on the design of this project and probably has had to stretch her expertise to the limit. It is very much appreciated.
The Town Hall Lift is still progressing slowly through its design phase in order that we can move to the tender process. I do thank the inhabitants of that part of the town Hall for their co-operation and helpful attitude. I look forward to this continuing as we progress towards the actual works, which I know will be disruptive but we will keep that to the absolute minimum.
Tenders for the houses we built at MPA as a contribution towards our defence have been received and I believe we are good to go on these.
The St Mary’s car park, which although is a Stanley Services project, has had a lot of input from PWD. I can confirm that by looking out my back door that works are well underway and it looks to be progressing well as the diggers are getting progressively closer to my door.
The Christmas lights have been purchased and would have been in the Islands now except for a small problem at a depot in the UK, which stopped things in their tracks. We are going full steam ahead to try and get the lights here for Liberation Day but this hick-up has set us back. We may still make it but time is running out. Fingers crossed that we can still do it.
I believe that we also have funds this year to purchase and install street lighting in the area of the turn-off to the Trough towards Stanley. This shows just how long projects can take as this is something I asked for some time ago after a hit and run incident on a stretch of the By-Pass Road. And I hope that when installed this will make that stretch of road safer for both pedestrians and drivers alike.
As was mentioned in the public meeting, new windows are on the way for the Town Hall and the general spruce-up will follow their fitting. I am not sure whether we will keep the strange-looking toasting forks on the outside walls or not.
In other departments I have responsibility for, we see monies set aside for the replacement of one of Stanley’s major fire appliances, namely the old Bedford truck, which has served us well for 25 years but alas, as happens to us all, age takes its toll and replacement parts are becoming extremely expensive or impossible to get a hold of. The new truck will, I am told, be of the same type having the capability of being able to act as a water supply for the other two major units in areas where adequate mains may not be available, or can operate on its own. We have also been given funding to replace other ageing equipment such as water pumps and hoses, which are a fair old age and have had a fair bit of use with Camp fires, etc. over the years.
The FIDF will see an upgrade in their equipment but for obvious reasons, I will not be elaborating on this.
Money has been allocated to purchase equipment that will allow us to print our own plastic driving licences. I am not sure when these will become available as apart from getting equipment here and set-up. There will have to be legislation allowing us to use these type of licences. We will keep you informed as to how things go. And my thanks to all those who enthusiastically entered into the spirit of things and making it happen.
The Fisheries Department are getting close to finally getting out of their area on top of FIPASS and into their new pad at the AG (Agricultural) Department, which, indeed, is long overdue. This is good news. What wasn’t good news was the increase in the cost. This may be something the PAC might want to cast their eye over. The new office is a ‘green build’ and will incorporate solar panels which I hope will gradually pay dividends.
I am also worried, though by reports that I have picked up that another Government Department might use the old fisheries offices on a temporary basis whilst their digs are renovated by the landlords. I am totally against this as the Fisheries Department are on the move because their current offices are almost a danger to them with documented cases of running water through the light fittings. O plead with the Administration not to put anyone else in there – not even on a temporary basis because as it happens in the Falklands all too often, temporary suddenly becomes permanent.
If I have missed anything from any of my other Departments, then I must apologise.
FIDC – I do look forward to the new ordinance that will reshape FIDC coming into being and I hope that freeing it from its present relationship with central Government will enable it to have more freedom to act, even though it is pushing forward with a lot of projects that I hope will generate more income for our Islands plus also carrying on with loan appraisals, etc.
A lot of what it does, of course, is out of the public eye because of the commercially confidential nature of its business. And so people can be forgiven for thinking that nothing is happening. That could not be further from the truth. I do welcome the attempts that staff from FIDC is getting out and about, especially into the Camp. That sort of initiative is long overdue.
Here there has been some splendid co-operation between FIDC, PWD and the Legal Department with regard to surveying and the conveyance work at the Lookout Industrial Estate. This work is carrying on at a cracking pace. Thanks to all of those involved, including the inhabitants of Lookout for approaching the conveyance work regarding the Lookout plots with such a ‘can do’ attitude. It just shows what can be done when we talk to each other, plans all pull in the same direction.
On a slightly different note I have been told that even prior to the midnight deadline for beer and fags having new levels of duty applied, some outlets have already increased the price on spirits on their shelves. If large stocks were withdrawn from the barns before the midnight deadline under the old levels of duty and are then sold on reflecting the new rates of duty, then this really does go beyond ethical trading in my book. It is nothing better than profiteering and is totally unacceptable. I sincerely hope that these reports that came to me were untrue.
I would like to turn my attention to the MPA Road. From figures we have been given the gradual blacktopping of the MPA Road would seem to be far too expensive for the country to be able to afford at this time without it having a direct effect on other Capital Projects. I can accept that we probably can’t afford to do it all in one whack at the moment, as it would chomp up about 1/3rd of our whole reserves. And it must be remembered that those reserves, apart from being there to shelter us against a catastrophic down-turn in our income streams, also provide a healthy income through what is received from the investment of that money. However, that said, I and I suspect most people here view that road as a national embarrassment and I firmly believe that we could gradually do sections – maybe not the lot but certainly black top the areas that have the heavier use. It is something that is worth going back and having a look at.
In the future there are some big ticket items that are ion the way. The Rural and Tourist Development Strategies will chomp up a lot of cash in various related projects once they get going and on the infrastructure front, Glen and his merry chaps up at the Power Station are working quietly away as they always do on a project for extra engines to replace or bolster what we have at the moment as they are getting on a bit. They have been wonderfully maintained over the years and their longevity is a credit to all those who work there. But we had a warning about a year ago when one spat a piston and the other had a generator end problem. And so it was time to start thinking about what was needed and where they should be housed.
Everything is still at the planning stage but it looks like two engines plus all the gear that is needed plus, perhaps a new building in the Power Station area could cost anywhere from £3 to £5 Million. I stress that this is very much a finger in the air estimate and it might come in lower but we must be prepared for a hare curling budget line that will be heading our way at some stage. This, too, is a project that will be needed – hydrocarbons or not.
Alas the Honourable Dick is not here to speak about the Port and I will try not to pretend that I have his knowledge on the subject. But I would be very hopeful that the necessary swell in the data will be ready in the forthcoming financial year and we will at last be able to make a final decision on where the beastly thing will go. I firmly believe that once the decision is made, things will start to flow, that Government and the Private sector will be able to start planning.
Again, this is big bucks stuff and financing will be a bridge we will have to cross. FIPASS itself may well need rejigging to provide an interim solution whilst the new port takes shape. Again, it’s all money.
As was mentioned in the Governor’s speech, the Immigration Review Group is still struggling on – and I use the word, struggling as like a lot of departments we cannot put the resources to the problem that it needs as most people on that group who have to do the legwork also have day jobs. And concentrating on IRG work means that the day to day stuff suffers and other things in the department have to slip.
There may be a way around this and Barry Marsden has bounced a couple of ideas off me, one of which I do like.
Immigration is something that I hear again and again isn’t fit for purpose. It wouldn’t be able to handle the mythical 300 persons who are said to hit the Falklands if oil starts to happen. It isn’t up to processing work permits for the current round etc. etc. I am a little mystified about these complaints about work permits as we have asked around and about and can’t seem to find out exactly what the problems are. Perhaps someone out there could enlighten me.
I see Immigration as being a double edged sword. Yes we must increase our population. I don’t have a problem with that. But we must do it in a way that is slow enough for people to integrate fully and also in a way that will not alienate the native population of our own country.
We have a wonderful community here and it has happened by people coming down, working here, liking it and choosing to go through the processes of becoming one of us – not fast tracking or buying their way in. I know mist other countries allow entrepreneurs to waltz up and be fast tracked. It is something that has been suggested here and it may well happen but it is something that I really do not like. Money should not count when it comes to getting privileges. I find it distasteful that something as an immigrant who may be a worker in a shop or a shepherd, who all make a valuable contribution to our Islands should beaten to PRP or whatever it may be by someone who can flash some cash.
The Review of the Review did not go quite as far or examine areas that I thought it would. It has made some very good recommendations. But I feel it could and should have gone further. It has been accepted so we shall work with it.
This includes the Department of Homeland Security. It was accepted by the majority that this grouping should stay as is – something that I do not think is correct but it was a democratic decision and as portfolio holder, I had the choice to either accept the will of the majority or relinquish the portfolio. I have chosen to accept the decision of the majority even though I know I am in the right and will work with that grouping to make sure that it works and is ready for anything that is thrown at it. And I would like to assure the public that we are ready for any immediate happenings.
You may have noticed in all of the above I have hardly mentioned the nasty neighbours. To be honest, I can’t see much need to. They howl like Prairie Dogs and try their best to bring us to our knees. For cheap stunts by using so called sports people but above all have become that erratic that they score own goal after own goal. I suspect this is happening because they can see that all their hostility, bullying and economic warfare isn’t having any affect whatsoever and their frustration levels must be to a point where they are ready to pop.
That said, we must be on our guard because as their country and economy unravels they may well become even more unpredictable. Truth is on our side. This is all we have to do – continue getting out there and telling the truth. If they can’t wake up and smell the coffee, that’s their problem. We have a country to run which unlike theirs has a brilliant future.
I have to pay tribute to my colleagues and the people of the Islands for continuing to do whatever they can wherever they are to counter their scurrilous and heretical attempts to usurp our country. They will not succeed. We are not giving an inch.
As we fast approach our 30th Anniversary of the liberation from foreign presence, I would like to pay tribute to everyone who took part all those years ago and to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. To their families I can only express my deep sorrow for their loss and our gratitude for what their loved ones did for us. They gave us our lives, our freedom, our hope, our future and our country back. They returned to us our right to self-determination – a gift that we all took for granted until it is taken away from them.
I hope that what you see here 30 years later is testament to all those who liberated us. I must not forget all those both Military and Civilian who, over 30 years have allowed us to forge a future secure in the knowledge that we were saved. I thank you all.
Finally, before sitting down, I would like to end with what I hope is a humorous note but one which carries a lot of truth. I made mention earlier in my speech of spending like drunken sailors. This is a newspaper clipping from the Wyoming Daily News from a retired sailor and goes like this: “I object and take exception to everyone saying that Obama and Congress are spending money like a drunken sailor. As a former drunken sailor, I quit when I ran out of money.”
I wish to support the Motion.
(100X Transcription Service)
Definition of par·si·mo·ni·ous: adj ˌpär-sə-ˈmō-nē-əs
Definition of PARSIMONIOUS: exhibiting or marked by parsimony; especially: frugal to the point of stinginess : sparing, restrained
Synonyms: cheap, chintzy, close, closefisted, mean, mingy, miserly, niggard, niggardly, stingy, penny-pinching, penurious, pinching, pinchpenny, spare, sparing,
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