Page 2213 - Week 07 - Thursday, 6 June 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I would ask members to reject this motion and let this Chief Minister, Trevor Kaine, and his Government, his now minority Government of seven, get on with the job of governing the ACT. I think you will be very sorry and the ACT will be very sorry if you elect a different government.
MR JENSEN (4.52): Mr Speaker, today, unfortunately, once again, we are debating a motion of no confidence in the Chief Minister of the ACT. This motion was not forced upon this Assembly by the Rally; it was forced upon it by others.
In a way, given the community feeling about the manner in which self-government was introduced into this Territory, I guess it is not surprising that this first term of this Assembly has been characterised by conflicts, political manoeuvrings, poor public image and media theatricals. It is sad that the learning curve, mistakes and hard work of some have taken place in such a goldfish bowl, under the hostile gaze of much of the media and public. Of the latter, of course, many did not want self-government.
It seems to me, Mr Speaker, that for some reason the ACT Assembly has been seen as somehow different from all the other assemblies around Australia. All around Australia at the moment almost all parliaments are suffering from the sorts of issues that we are finding here in the ACT, particularly in the way that their parliaments are operating. I think it is unfortunate that people have seen fit to portray our Assembly as somehow being different. Maybe being smaller is the reason why this has been the case. However, there is no going back on these matters, Mr Speaker, and all we can do is, hopefully, learn from our errors and work together for the good of the Canberra community for the next seven months. The Residents Rally, Mr Speaker, makes a pledge to the people of Canberra to do that for the community.
The Residents Rally, Mr Speaker, was formed in response to the autocratic style of decision making of the Federal Labor and Liberal parties and their local counterparts - a style of decision making which meant that, by and large, Canberrans had very little say in the processes of government which affected them most. We in the Rally believed that the people of Canberra would be best served by a community based party which had a strong social justice agenda and roots in the suburbs, serving the total community and not sectional interests. The Rally, Mr Speaker, had no polarised agenda and was not interested in power for power's sake. I would suggest that the events of the last few days clearly support that attitude. Whatever happens today, as my colleague Mr Collaery has already said, the Rally will remain on the cross benches.
Since being elected, the Rally has sought to achieve these ideals. While not being successful in all cases, we have learnt that politics is a tough game. The two major parties have regarded us as a threat to their cosy duopoly
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .