Page 2911 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
That is another part of your policy that is an absolute sham. You do not consult with anybody. You just sit in your offices. You might take a phone call from the 60 faceless people of your Labor Party caucus or your Labor Party organisation out there in Belconnen, but you do not talk to anybody else. Of course, in the end, this kind of arbitrary decision making is of no value to our community whatsoever. We are in the middle of a construction slump. Here is a possibility to get some construction work going that is of value to the general community; but, no, the Labor Party just arbitrarily says that that is not going to happen; it is not going to have any of that.
It is not only the interests of the ageing that we are setting aside now; it is the interests of the community generally. Mr Berry said that there was wide community acceptance of this decision. How does he know? Whom did he talk to? Where is the evidence that he ever spoke to anybody on the subject? I would suggest that not only has Mr Berry not spoken to anybody on the subject but neither has Mr Wood.
Mr Speaker, the Government's decision on this matter is not based on social justice, it is not based on commonsense, it is not in accordance with our current planning arrangements, and it is not consistent with public opinion. If you do not believe me, wait until election day. It seems to have escaped your notice that grey power in Canberra is becoming increasingly important - much more important than elsewhere in Australia - and those people are not going to forget this. They are not going to forget this attack on their interests, not only in terms of the RSL at Lake Ginninderra but across the whole range of government decision making, as Mr Humphries spelt out in some depth.
I do not know whose interests you are putting at the top of your priority list; but I suggest that you review this matter and have another look at whether these people, firstly, because they are ageing and, secondly, because they are veterans, might not have a legitimate prior claim to the use of this land because of the place that they ought to have in this community. The bottom line simply is that you are setting aside, in favour of some unspecified beneficiary, the interests of these ageing people and these veterans. I simply put it to you, Mr Speaker, that it is totally unacceptable. The Government, instead of going and telling the RSL what they cannot have, would be well advised to go and talk to them about what they can have.
Ms Follett: That is exactly what we did.
MR KAINE: No, he has already told the RSL what they cannot have. That is the start point. This is your community consultation. Tell them what they cannot have first, then go and discuss what might be left after that. I would suggest that your negotiations with the RSL should put back on the agenda the piece of ground at Lake Ginninderra, not
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .