Page 1833 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 18 October 1989
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Then I come to Mr Whalan, who finds this not to his liking. He does not want to know about fluoride; it is not in his portfolio, I suggest. With bluff and bravado he presented newspaper cuttings again. It demeans his considerable talent every time he does this. It has been noticed that whenever he cannot put forward his own argument, because he is unsure of himself, he pulls out the paper reports. If that is the level of debate to which this Assembly sinks, I am appalled. Surely to goodness, he can come up with an original thought or read some literature on the subject. If not, for goodness sake, he should sit down. There is the challenge to him. Referring to paper cuttings at all times when he is in doubt and just bluffing his way through, really, as I said before, demeans his considerable talent.
The damage done to this Assembly was not done by those who stood up and fought for an issue. Courage can never be the reason for derision. It certainly can be when we have people number counting and bringing in their Federal colleagues, and I will put that again: the Labor Party members have brought in their Federal colleagues; they have a petition being pushed around town by a person with no, or little, knowledge on the fluoride issue. It is a political ploy. If there is any derision to be levelled at this house it was pulled on by Mr Whalan and his group of supporters.
To say that consultation was denied to Queanbeyan people is rubbish. That was not the case. We had a number of sessions with those people. I called those sessions, and the people of Queanbeyan had the right to be informed by their mayor, who attended those hearings. The people who did not call for the consultation are the members of the Labor Government. It was their duty to do that, but they have shirked it. Now they are ashamed of it, and they are trying to put it onto others.
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Do you claim to have been misrepresented, Mr Berry?
MR BERRY: Yes, sir, on three counts. The first one was in relation to an issue that was raised about the Albert Shire Council and costs. Mr Prowse suggested that I committed a gross exaggeration in my costing of the provision of an alternative dosage of fluoride. As members who have been involved in any discussion with me on the issue will recall, the $2.5m which was quoted was calculated to dose the entire 270,000 people in the ACT - - -
Mr Stevenson: Atrocious statement!
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