Dr Wheatley argued that Fifth District Representative, Kye Rymer, has helped move the entire territory forward and has assisted residents of his districts throughout his term in office and should be allowed to continue his work alongside the rest of the VIP team.

“While you might hope that if he is there with others you will get that assistance, why chance it?” Premier Wheatley asked. “If a formula is working for you District 5, why should you go and change that formula? I’m saying let’s stick with what works.”

Premier Wheatley described Rymer as a man of loyalty. He said this loyalty has been given both to him as Premier and to Rymer’s Fifth District constituency and argued that Rymer’s support had been unwavering as Deputy Premier.

Rymer argued that there has been much work done in the district to help people and said the last four years had been no easy journey for the community. “We’ve accomplished a lot in the last four years and must continue to build on the foundation we’ve laid. There is so much more to be done and I am confident in our ability to continue the transformative work that we have started,” Rymer said.

In the meantime, Dr Wheatley noted, that with all the difficulties faced over the last four years, the country is only now getting on its feet. He also expressed that his government is now better poised to serve the territory and make even greater progress.

According to the Premier, his party has had four years of figuring out the problems of the territory and arriving at solutions for what work and what partnerships are needed to get things done in the territory.

The Premier added that there was no need for an experiment at this time and dismissed talks of having what some have described as a ‘patchwork’ government being elected into office.