Page 2768 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 14 August 1990
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Mr Acting Speaker, for all of these reasons we allege that the Government led the contractors of this Territory to believe that all was well with the Shelley group when the Government, in fact, was aware that all was not well. The Government's actions resulted in contractors in good faith entering into agreements with the Shelley group, agreements which the Shelley group are now unable to honour, leaving small contractors - and we are talking here about individuals running companies or small family companies - leaving the little person carrying the can, leaving the little subbie, the independent subcontractor, or the building worker with a substantial loss.
The immediate need is for the Government to take some steps to pay these people, otherwise confidence in the building industry in this town will be gone. If there is a further need, when the Government has done the honourable thing on that, it is to look closely and deeply into the system of awarding contracts in this town.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (3.38): As Mr Connolly said at the start of this debate, it is worthwhile noting that the Opposition have given up their attempts to embarrass the Government or somehow attack the Government on education issues for the simple reason that they have realised that their claims have been just that, all claims and no substance.
I think it is quite interesting that they have got off the education band wagon, especially when I read the wording of this matter of public importance lodged by Mr Connolly. I shall read it:
The failure of the Government to properly manage public works contracting in the ACT.
I notice from my ever ready copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage that the English-speaking world may be divided into five categories: those who neither know nor care what a split infinitive is, those who do not know but care very much, those who know and condemn, those who know and approve, and those who know and distinguish.
Mr Connolly: I am sure the contractors facing bankruptcy would like to know about split infinitives.
MR DUBY: I can see that from Mr Connolly's interjection he falls into category one. He belongs to the vast majority of people who neither know nor care and "are a happy folk, to be envied by most of the minority cases".
Mr Wood: That is a minute and a half. Are you going to get on to the subject?
MR DUBY: I do not think I shall need the full time to be able to demolish the arguments put up by Mr Connolly today. If ever there was a wet set of arguments mounted, it was
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