Page 1339 - Week 05 - Thursday, 26 April 1990
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by one person. This reckless disregard for the reputations of citizens brought shame on this Territory. His style was to cripple the proceedings of the Assembly throughout its first year. I have spent a bit of time over the last couple of days going through the press clippings, and it takes only an examination of the press clippings to substantiate the points which I have just made.
The outcome of that election was an aberration. When you consider that half the voters voted informally, failed to vote, or voted for candidates against self-government - that is, a little over half the total of people eligible to vote in the elections last year protested - the outcome is not surprising. It is my belief that at the next election there will be a totally different result. There will be a return to the support for the major parties within the Australian political system.
In my concluding remarks, Mr Speaker and members, I would like to say that it has been an honour to serve in this first Assembly and to serve in the first Government of the ACT. I wish to thank my party, the Australian Labor Party, for the experience, and my parliamentary colleagues in the ALP caucus for their confidence in me. I do not express that gratitude lightly. We in the Labor Party regard our party as a great historical movement and not simply as a vehicle for personal ambition. I look back on the period of the Follett Government with a sense of achievement. I thank Rosemary Follett for her serene leadership of our Government throughout a most difficult period. I particularly treasure the memory of the solid unity of our caucus and our strength of purpose as a united team when we were in government and subsequently, since we have been in opposition.
I wish Trevor Kaine well in his leadership of the Alliance Government. The Chief Minister is an honourable man. I know that he will face the difficult decisions which confront him with resolution and a sense of decency. It is well-known that I regard Trevor Kaine as a personal friend, and in a way I must say that I am glad that our friendship will not continue to be tested by things which have to be said in the heat of debate in this chamber.
I would also like to place on record my admiration for the manner in which Gary Humphries from the Liberal Party has approached his ministerial duties. I am conscious that he is sitting on the hottest set of financial and administrative challenges and I do not envy his role over the next couple of years.
Mr Speaker, I leave the Assembly with less charitable feelings towards the Deputy Chief Minister. I cannot forget the impact on me and those close to me of his allegation last year that I had accepted a large bribe. I considered that my personal and political reputation would not, and could not, recover from that allegation. I remind you of the Canberra Times the day after those allegations. I
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