Page 2286 - Week 08 - Friday, 21 June 1991
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convenience between disparate elements. The Labor Government shares a common vision and has clarity of purpose. Its unified approach and vision will provide a springboard for stable government, for the Alliance experience has shown us that without it such stability is not achievable.
My Government will be open and consultative. I firmly believe that people have the right to know what is going on. But that alone is not enough. My Government will listen to the community and will learn from the community. Some would argue that in government a commitment to consultation and openness are optional extras, icing on the cake as it were, and incompatible with decisive government. This is clearly not the case. Indeed, it is only when a government is fully informed by community views on an issue that it can take decisive and forward thinking action.
Mr Speaker, no doubt some people will say that my model of open, consultative government is inappropriate in Canberra's current economic circumstances. What I argue, and what my Government will show, is that in such difficult times it is more important than ever for a government to make the right decisions. And, as the Alliance record shows, a government will not make the right decisions unless it listens to the community. Some may say that making consultation a priority means that at times we will need to go a little slower than would otherwise be the case. This may well be true. When I see the results of the Alliance's headlong rush to make decisions - the budget blow-out on health, the empty schools, the community pickets, the state of the Ambulance Service and that extraordinary decision on renewal of commercial leases - I am quite prepared to go a little more slowly and make the right decisions.
My Government's emphasis on consultation will also extend to the Assembly itself. If the people of Canberra are to develop faith in our political system, we, as their representatives, must act with appropriate dignity and consideration towards each other. Accordingly, the Labor Government will seek to encourage in the Assembly a style which is creative, rather than combative, and which provides opportunities for the talents and knowledge of its members to be directed towards the needs of Canberra. With these objectives in mind, we will work to encourage a healthy and vital committee system. We will be open in our dealings with Assembly members - and I hope Mr Collaery is listening to that; we will be open in our dealings, Mr Collaery - and we will seek to stimulate informed and productive debate on the many difficult issues that face us.
I have referred several times to the harsh economic reality facing Canberra. I believe that it is worthwhile here to put the record quite straight. I do not want to generate any false hopes that I can insulate Canberra from any pain from the decisions necessary to cope with this economic
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