Page 2285 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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Mr Speaker, what we have achieved in the course of many months of this Assembly is a turnaround from a strong government aimed at furthering the interests of the ACT to a government now headed by a Chief Minister who has demonstrated a lack of integrity, a lack of credibility, hypocrisy and contradiction. If this continues it will do further damage to the Territory. This Chief Minister should be dumped for his failure to bring the ACT forward. He should be dumped because he has taken it into the dark past.
Sitting suspended from 12.40 to 2.3O pm
MR WOOD (2.30): Mr Speaker, I have no confidence in Mr Kaine and I believe very few people in Canberra have. There is a strong demand out there for things to change. If people could - and regrettably there is no avenue for this - they would have an election so that we could get rid of this Government and return sanity and normality to this Territory. I have no confidence in Mr Kaine or his Government, particularly because of the steps they are taking to destroy our education system.
But first I want to comment on Mr Stevenson's remarks. I believe that his exercise today was fair. I believe any member in this chamber is entitled to quote back to any other member words that he or she has used or policies he or she has espoused. Let me say for myself that I am more than prepared for any person to quote back to me things that I have said. I am prepared for Mr Stevenson, or any other member, to do that and I am quite prepared to be judged on the strength of my remarks.
Indeed, the other day Mr Humphries quoted some words at me. I am quite pleased he did so and I am quite prepared to stand by those words. Mr Jensen quoted something the other day that I had written, and I stand by those words. If I was wrong on any occasion, I would hang my head in shame if the words that I had used had not subsequently been borne out in my actions. It may be that circumstances change, but they do not change that rapidly in six months. The only qualification I would make is that over a period of years, with the passage of time, any person is entitled to modify his or her views as experience changes and as people change their outlook on life.
Today, when their words were quoted back at them, members on the Government benches wriggled and squirmed to try to avoid them. I have seen embarrassed Government members not wanting to recollect what was said just a short time ago. Mr Collaery might put me right if I am mistaken, but I recall that at the outset of his speech he made some comments - and I am paraphrasing his words - about it not being sensible or good to criticise people in the personal way that Mr Stevenson was alleged to have done.
Mr Collaery: No, I did not say that.
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