Page 803 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 20 April 2021
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There is a little something, though, that I want to put on the record in here regarding this petition and this ongoing saga. My participation in this process has been based on the overwhelming community groundswell of opposition to this development proposal. My participation has been about sticking up for a small business that has continued to operate against the odds for 30 years. My participation in this process has been about this specific proposal and how it affects all stakeholders.
I am not anti-McDonalds. I want to put on the record that I am genuinely dismayed by some of the extremely strong rhetoric about the golden arches that has been bandied around. Individuals have tried to characterise McDonald’s in Canberra as an American multinational corporation that somehow does not belong in the suburbs of Canberra. At the suburban level, McDonald’s is far from the global corporation; it is a family business. At its core here in Canberra we are talking about franchises that are run by Canberrans, employing over 2,000 Canberrans. I do not think we should forget that. Those 2,300 employees are not employed by the global corporation of McDonald’s; they are employed by the family businesses here in the ACT.
McDonald’s in Canberra plays a genuine, positive role in the community, not the least of which is Ronald McDonald House. Additionally, at a suburban level, the Macca’s franchises contribute to countless sporting and community groups. Why do they do that? They do it because they live here, too. They live here just as we do.
All I am saying is that, although I am committed to backing the community voice on this development, I am urging a balanced conversation. I do not share the views of my friend Mr Davis, who said in this chamber that he is 100 per cent opposed to everything McDonald’s. I look forward to Mr Davis’s motion to ban McDonald’s from the ACT.
Mr Davis: I do not think that is a direct quote.
MR PARTON: I think it is a direct quote.
It may sound like hyperbole, but if you are on the record as being 100 per cent opposed to everything McDonald’s and you find yourself elected to parliament as a member of the government, I would think that you pretty much have to try to ban them completely. I wonder if that ban is going to extend to KFC, Oporto and Guzman y Gomez. I love Guzman y Gomez.
In closing, let me say that this battle is far from over. The odds are quite possibly still stacked against the good old Chissy Tav. I suggest that you get in there as soon as you can and have a meal and a beverage. Go the bangers and mash and tell them Parto sent you.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Economy and Gender and Economic Equality—Standing Committee
Report 2
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (10.16): I present the following report:
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