Page 615 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 1990
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not once. Instead, of course, what Mr Moore is doing is mouthing the words of his masters.
We heard the comments of the Labor Party, desperate for a headline, saying some time back that somehow the ACT Government would produce $30m of public funds to support the VFT consortium. That is an absolute untruth, an absolute extension of more untruths. Of course, the Labor Party at least has had the commonsense and decency to realise that it was wrong and it has not made any more of those comments. But not Mr Moore. As usual, Mr Moore is behind the times and is still persisting with this outrageous allegation which cannot be proved, which cannot even be hinted at. There is no proof anywhere. As I said, I am waiting. I would like you to produce one iota of evidence that the Alliance Government is going to give one cent of public money to the VFT consortium. I am glad I was able to get up and put that particular rumour to rest, as it deserves. Mr Kaine did not say it and never has said it. If you can find where he said it, I would like to know about it.
The original motion that was put by Ms Follett called on the Government to encourage public support for the VFT project, to undertake specific studies on environmental and planning issues associated with the project and make representations to the Commonwealth Government with a view to seeking a coordinated national approach to the development of the project.
Once again, the Labor Party is behind the times because that is exactly what this Government has done. I endorse entirely the amendment to the motion that has been circulated by Mr Kaine which points out that those very three matters that Ms Follett has raised have been undertaken by this Government. There is no question that we have undertaken to encourage public support for the VFT project which, of course, is something we have always done. If you look back through question time last year you will notice that Ms Follett had grave doubts about the viability and the suitability of the VFT project for the ACT, and it took quite a deal of very perceptive questioning from the Opposition at the time to finally get the previous Labor Government to come out and say that it supported the project. In an answer given back in July, Ms Follett is recorded in Hansard as saying:
I can see that there may appear to be some inconsistency in the way that those remarks have been reported.
That was what Ms Follett said about her attitude to the VFT because she did a backflip. The previous Labor Government was not at all sure what it was going to do. Finally Labor members, like everyone else involved in the project, have recognised that there are a number of very important issues which have to be addressed in dealing with the VFT project. There are environmental issues, planning issues, social and
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