Page 1461 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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Mr Speaker, the direction that the Chief Minister has outlined in the statement is an eminently sensible one. It is purposeful; it contains direction; I believe it is the right way for us to be going and I believe that our legacy will be, when this Government next goes to the people, a trimmer, leaner, more efficient, more productive and more effective ACT.
MRS GRASSBY (9.06): Mr Speaker, the Alliance Government promised "a comprehensive financial plan, clearly spelling out to the community the Government's priorities and intentions". What we have is the so-called budget strategy statement - a document which gives us only the briefest glimpses of the Government's hidden agenda for the next 12 months. It could not, in any sense, be called a five-year plan.
Mr Kaine: It was not meant to be. I will deal with you in my concluding speech.
MRS GRASSBY: Thank you, Chief Minister. I have always wanted to be dealt with by a Chief Minister.
Why do we not have the promised five-year financial plan? Let me suggest two of the reasons why we do not have it. First of all, this Government of nonentities does not have the capacity to think that far ahead. It has trouble planning a week's business of the Assembly, let alone strategy for the next five years. But, more importantly, the less this Government tells the community of its true intentions the more it hopes to defer the community's outrage and ease the tensions within its own ranks. We all know about those, do we not? The absolute sell-out of the Residents Rally party policies by Bernard Collaery and Norm Jensen is having a disastrous effect on their own party. We do not need to look any further - - -
Mr Moore: Hector keeps telling everybody he still believes those things.
MRS GRASSBY: Yes, he keeps believing. We do not need to look any further for confirmation than the front page of a recent Canberra Times. What are the Rally's own members saying about their party? Let me quote part of this article. It refers to "poor consultation between ACT Deputy Chief Minister, Bernard Collaery, and the Rally membership", "loss of Rally identity through policy compromise or reversal of Rally policy to make it acceptable to the Alliance Government", "Mr Collaery's 'self-anointed' decision-making on a day-to-day basis".
Mr Jensen: On a point of order, Mr Speaker; I do not wish to interrupt the tirade in relation to the Residents Rally - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order! What is the point of order, please?
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