Page 22 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 1991
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would talk about. The Chief Minister sought leave to make a ministerial statement about the Gulf war. It does not fit within his responsibilities.
Mr Kaine: The consequences of it fit well within my responsibilities.
MR SPEAKER: As I see it, the Chief Minister certainly is entitled to make a ministerial statement on this issue.
Mr Berry: He is the Minister for war, is he?
MR SPEAKER: Well, he may well be; I do not know. Your objection is overruled, Mr Berry. Please proceed, Chief Minister.
MR KAINE: Thank you. I presume that leave is granted.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, leave is granted.
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I sought leave to make a statement on this matter because I believe it to be a matter of fundamental and universal importance which affects every one of us, including those of us who live in the ACT. I do not believe that there is a citizen of the ACT who has not already been affected in some way by this war. A number of our fellow citizens will have loved ones serving with the Australian defence forces in the Gulf. Other ACT citizens will be working long and stressful hours to assure the safety and comfort of those people. Some ACT citizens will be desperately concerned about the well-being of their families, relatives and friends now in the region of conflict or in neighbouring countries. Other ACT citizens whose families or friends are not directly involved in the conflict will, I believe, be finding that their view of the world has changed because of the events in the Gulf.
Mr Speaker, the optimism that we all experienced last year, as the result of decreased tensions between the superpowers and the peaceful restoration of democracy to the countries of Eastern Europe, has become tempered with the knowledge that world peace remains a hard won and fragile commodity. What nobody wanted - open war between nations, with its attendant death and destruction - is now a reality. People whose countries are not at war wait in fear of possible missile strikes and terrorist attacks. Terrible weapons, gases and chemicals are being discussed openly. The destruction of the environment, of marine and bird life, has been embraced as a deliberate military ploy.
I applaud the very firm position that the Prime Minister has taken since the outbreak of the war and the support that the Federal Leader of the Opposition has given to the Prime Minister. Like my Federal colleagues, I place a very high importance on the need for national unity in dealing with these terrible events.
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