Page 626 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Duby: It will bring $300m of business.
MR COLLAERY: As my colleague Mr Duby pointed out, it shows a total imbalance, immaturity and irresponsibility in outlook. In all the injunctions raised by Mr Kaine in his speech he referred to the need for further inquiries and the rest. It is the prerogative of the Government to indicate its preferred route if only to focus debate on that issue. In fact, it does a favour to the environmental debate because at least it brings it out in the open. It says, this is the route; we will look more closely at all of those issues. Interestingly, I spent the first few years of my life living in a house, on a farm, that faced the railway.
Mrs Grassby: Well, here we go again.
MR COLLAERY: The front door faced the railway.
Mr Whalan: Here we go again.
MR COLLAERY: Now, we used to hear - - -
Mr Whalan: It was the steel works last time.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR COLLAERY: When the Concord jet plane was being proposed it was said that it would break the sound barrier and snap the ozone layer and we would all die within 35 days. We are starting to hear again from behind the pillar those sorts of bearded doomsday statements.
The problem that the Government faces is that it cannot get the Opposition to focus on fact. It is now lost in wonderland somewhere. We have got someone out with Snow and those others who do something in fairyland and we have got an Opposition that is not drawing its full interest to the affairs of the Assembly. I think it would be interesting if people could be here some evenings to see how long some members of the Opposition remain in the Assembly.
In an interjection, Mrs Grassby said that either I had no social conscience or the Government had. I did not quite get it. Mr Speaker, I wanted to table a letter that refers to social conscience in at least one member of the Government. It is a significant letter written by the former chairman of the Human Rights Commission in the ACT and deputy chairman - - -
Ms Follett: On a point of order, Mr Speaker; what is the relevance of this? We are debating the very fast train.
MR SPEAKER: Order. Mr Collaery, if you claim to have been misrepresented you can take that opportunity later.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .