Page 1040 - Week 06 - Thursday, 27 July 1989
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I ask you to consider again that dear lady at your school whom you mentioned yesterday. Would she turn in her grave about this casino? I believe she would. It is the state which becomes the permanent addict. In the words of the prayer we hear so well said by you, Mr Speaker, we pray for the true welfare of the people of the Australian Capital Territory. That we do indeed pray for, O Lord.
We also have a trust and you, Chief Minister, have a trust, to uphold this city at its noblest, not only for the citizens of Canberra but also for the citizens of Australia, for the two largest States of Australia, for New South Wales where the casino has been denied and for Victoria where it has been denied.
My time here is very short. I want to assure the Assembly and Mr Kaine that the Rally is indeed listening to the voice of the people. We heard them again this morning on radio 2CN, and something like eight to one were against the casino. And I assure you all that, as I step out of this Assembly this morning, the fight for the honour and nobility of this city will continue. If anything, I am heightened and strengthened by the three to two vote. (Extension of time granted)
So I want you to know that the fight begins this morning. It does not end; it begins. It begins in the press, in the media, in lectures, in talks, in meetings, in political rallies. I will want everyone in this city to know who is in favour of a casino and who is not. I will certainly want it to be known in the next Federal elections, whoever is running, who was in favour of the casino and who was not. I would want it to be known by February 1992. But I hope it will not come to that.
I hope that in this Assembly, given a conscience vote, an open conscience vote - I do not want some secret little sneaky thing going on; I want an open conscience vote - everyone in this place will say, "After 11 weeks of a brand new Assembly this is what I believe. I believe that this city needs a gambling casino at its very heart" - yea or nay. I want to hear that yea or nay from each person in this house.
I am going to conclude with a statement from a very dear friend and colleague who brought me to this city. I am here thanks to him. I rejoice that I am here. I rejoice to be in this Assembly. I care so much what goes on here. Manning Clark in his last volume of A History of Australia, volume 6, has this to say. This is his last page, page 500, a lifetime's work. He is talking about recent times and he says:
Restraints on human behaviour were thrown aside. Nothing was sacred, nothing escaped examination. Men and women walked naked on the beaches, the stage and the screen and they were not ashamed. Men and women
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