Disgraced MLA Mark Turner should do his ‘bloody’ job and double down on representing Blain or resign: Gunner
DISGRACED Blain MLA Mark Turner should “bloody” do his job and if he cannot commit to the electorate then he should resign, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has suggested
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DISGRACED Blain MLA Mark Turner should “bloody” do his job and if he cannot commit to the electorate then he should resign, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has suggested in a sweary moment in parliament.
Mr Gunner, facing a barrage of questions from the Opposition in parliament on Tuesday, was asked yet again if he believed the Blain MLA should resign from parliament.
The Chief Minister, in a sweary slip of the tongue he immediately apologised for, said Mr Turner “has a job and he should bloody do that job”.
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NT Young Labor want Turner to stay in party, ask for help finding Gunner’s backbone
“(He should) make it very clear to the people of Blain that he will do that job,” Mr Gunner said.
“Now, if he’s incapable of doubling down and recommitting to the people of Blain, then yes, that is a very serious question for him to consider about his place in this place.”
Mr Gunner also said the way Mr Turner had allowed the situation to play out had made it “extremely public and extremely painful” for the Blain MLAs family.
Speaker Ngaree Ah Kit on Tuesday confirmed she had not received a resignation letter from the Blain MLA.
Mr Turner was in parliament for the first 10 minutes of the sitting day, which is the bare minimum under the rules, and has not been seen since.
It comes at the youth wing of NT Labor asked the party to let disgraced Blain MLA Mark Turner keep his membership while asking the president to help Chief Minister Michael Gunner find his spine.
The Palmerston branch of NT Young Labor (NTYL), in a letter to party president Erina Early dated February 23, asked that Mark Turner be allowed to keep his membership as the Blain MLA was “personally responsible” for drawing “several young activists” into the party.
NT Young Labor president Lithira Abeysinghe also said having an affair is “not sufficient grounds” to kick Mr Turner out of the party.
In the letter NT Young Labor also asked for Ms Early’s assistance to help “in our search for parliamentary leader’s vertebrate (sic)”- in other words, they want help finding Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s backbone.
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The letter was posted to NT Young Labor’s Facebook page but has since been deleted.
Responding to NT Young Labor in parliament, Mr Gunner said “with respect … while the kids play with memes, we have to make decisions”.
“We have made those decisions, we stand by those decisions,” he said.
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