Page 100 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 1990
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Mr Kaine: They are like a pair of yo-yos.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Please proceed, Mr Berry.
MR BERRY (11.25): I think the most important issue that has arisen out of this debate so far is the refusal of the Chief Minister to deny that this important facility for the people of Tuggeranong has been taken off the list. Nothing that Mr Collaery has said, along with his fantasies, would convince the people of Tuggeranong that the Government is committed, as is suggested in the amendment which Mr Collaery has put forward for consideration in this place. Indeed, what the amendment seeks to do is to ensure that the commitment to the provision of a pool in the Tuggeranong Valley is watered down as far as is possible. I think the amendment was put forward only so that Mr Collaery could rise to defend his misleading words in this house yesterday when he made it clear, as far as I was concerned anyway, that he had got hold of some documents that the Government would not otherwise have had access to if the conventions were observed.
It is just another one of Mr Collaery's throwaway lines. We have had a tirade in response to his amendment to allow him to speak on this issue and to water down the Government's commitment to a pool in the Tuggeranong area. But the most important issue is the refusal of the Chief Minister to deny that this important facility for the people of Tuggeranong has been taken off the list, or put down the list at least.
One other particularly important issue is that of health in the ACT and how such a facility might assist in a major way to cut health costs in the ACT and to improve the health of its citizens. I am sorry that Mr Humphries is not here to listen to this part of the debate and Dr Kinloch is not here either.
Mr Whalan: Well, there are the educational aspects.
MR BERRY: Something will be said later on about the educational aspects of a swimming pool for the people of Canberra. Improved health should be the goal of any government with concerns for the people of Canberra as its prime focus. Mr Humphries' recent management of the hospital dispute clearly pointed out that the prime focus was not for the people of Canberra and the sick people in our hospitals; it was about grandstanding on an issue of industrial relations. I must say that the goal seemed rather hazy throughout the entire dispute, except that from day one all that was apparent was Mr Humphries backing away from goals which could not be achieved in the industrial circumstances. In fact, the whole industrial dispute was chaotic and the only people who suffered in the whole exercise were the people who might be trying to use our health facilities.
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