Page 87 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 May 1989
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Having worked as a government lawyer in the ACT Administration, not only did I obtain an insight into the workings of the ACT Administration - ideas and insights that I hope to put to good use in the course of these meetings - but also it gave rise to the belief, in my mind, that government is not the best vehicle to realise the dreams of its citizens. They are best placed to do that. That may seem a trite statement but I firmly believe it is true.
I have seen first-hand in my travels - in Eastern Europe, in particular, some years ago - the effect of overactive, overinterfering government. The effect, I can assure members, is devastating. I hope that my contribution to this Assembly will be to keep in some small way the spirit of human endeavour and enterprise alive in this Territory.
I finish by thanking a few people to whom not only I but also those others who sit with me on the Liberal benches owe a great debt of gratitude. They are people who contributed so much to the recent campaign. Of course, there were the candidates, not only those here today but also those who were unsuccessful. Many office and party workers contributed an enormous amount to that campaign and had much less to gain from it than any of the candidates. I should mention just four people - Mr Keith Old, Mrs Danielle Hynes, Mrs Kathy Casey and Mr Stephen Forshaw - who all made enormous contributions. There are many other party workers but there is not time to mention their names. They know their contribution, and I acknowledge it now.
I want to mention the effort of two special friends of mine, Mrs Jennifer Bright and Mr Rohan Greenland, whose contribution and assistance in the dark days of the campaign - there were some dark days - was absolutely enormous. I and the others here owe them a great debt of gratitude. Finally, I want to pay tribute to all those members of the Liberal Party, be they big contributors or small ones, who shared the vision that we presented in the campaign and who put so much effort into the campaign and made it what we feel was such a success in terms of articulating our vision before the people of Canberra.
MR MOORE (11.36): I notice there is some provision in the standing orders for people who have difficulty standing to remain sitting for their speech. There is just no provision for people who are getting a sore throat, so I hope you will excuse me taking water occasionally. The address by the Chief Minister of the Capital Territory gives us some heart and I presume that in some ways we can take it as a Labor-No Self Government-Liberal speech, but, of course, that is only said in jest.
My theme today is that the Residents Rally is concerned with development in Canberra and development with openness. Over the past few years - and this was one of the major forces that put the Rally together - planning decisions have been made without consultation. It is that
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