Page 4012 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 24 October 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
rest? The realms of legal remedies available in this Territory, because we have advanced systems of administrative law, have also provided the groups with scope to pursue, if they can, legal remedies. That is a pretty good democracy. That is a hell of a democracy.
The Labor Party would be well advised to heed what one of its members - I believe it was Ms Follett - has said a few times now, namely, that the community, this Assembly, government in the Territory should really be run by committees. Many people think that that is utopian, but she argues that we have to get together cooperatively in this Assembly and solve the problems. What cooperation have the Labor Party members offered to the Liberal Party, the Residents Rally and the Independents Group on the schools issues? Have they ever invited us down to their floor or come up to the fifth floor and said, "Listen, why do we not sit down and sort this out?". I thought it was good that the Weetangera residents saw that Mandela debate the other day. That debate need not have occurred because it was a point-scoring exercise designed again, as with the treatment of the schools issue, to maximise some perceived votes and to let out a few good press releases.
Not once did Labor members sit down and say to us, "Look, you are quantitatively wrong here. You are qualitatively wrong on these issues. These are the social justice issues". When the Government was looking at the social issues on the closure and considering such issues as the density of Housing Trust tenants and the social impacts on certain areas, did Mr Moore or members of the Opposition come to us once and argue for their constituents? Not once did they knock on our door and say, "Let us look after the very strong collection of single parents whose only outing in the day is to go along with little Johnny and little Mary to the school". Did the Labor Party members look after their constituents even once?
The horrendous, tragic fact is that the Labor Party members probably wanted us to take the school closures position because it was great political material for them. We all know that Mr Moore used his classic - you will forgive me if I use this phrase - Young Liberal term "win-win". "It is a win-win", he said, and it echoed up and down the corridors - "Beauty, they have closed some schools. It is a win-win. We are going to score some points. We are not going to help resolve the situation".
I think the community is pretty sick of this. It knows that the Alliance Government now is submitting to that independent inquiry and that the Government is doing its level best to work the situation through and see what is going on. Clearly, Mr Moore challenged me, as the Rally leader, to get up. I am supported again today with another letter from a constituent; they are coming in more often now. It is addressed to Mr Jensen, and the writer says that we should not go out of government on just this issue because the Labor Party members cannot convince anyone that
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .