Page 4526 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
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I want to put clearly on the record that, if this is the attitude of the Liberal Party to these issues of fundamental concern to us residents who do not particularly want to be professional politicians and who have come in here to put these issues, then I am afraid Mr Kaine will loiter forever on the back benches. He knows that his only chance of gaining the government again is probably with us. I warn him - and I say it quite publicly now as leader of the Rally - that today, I am sure contrary to the wishes of even his own party room, he has taken a fateful decision.
Ms Follett, of course, is extremely happy to hear these words. It was very shrewd of the ALP to run this whole issue. They are not risking their own booths in that area and they have led the Liberal Party over the shoals. Mr Moore smiles because he is one of the best tactical shrewdies in this Assembly. He knows full well what a shrewd move the Labor Party have made. It probably fits with their whole process of supporting the Liberal Party to lead the opposition in this chamber when we in fact won that role in a fair democratic vote, as Mr Duby knows.
I come to the betterment issue. I am very concerned to hear Mr Bill Wood, one of the most honest politicians you will ever meet, suggest that there can be any equivocation on the betterment charge this group may have to pay if this unfortunate development is approved. The approvals given by Mr Kaine as Treasurer, the announcement approved by the Alliance Cabinet, and the law that therefore flows from that, administratively, used these words, among other matters, in an announcement made for all new applications received after midnight, 21 February 1990: "All new applications for site subdivision lodged with the Government for other lease purpose clause changes, et cetera, et cetera".
How Mr Wood could possibly suggest in this Assembly that there is some room to manoeuvre to let this group down off their 83 or 86 per cent, on my calculation, that they will have to pay in betterment charge I do not know. I trust that we will hear further from the Labor Party on that issue too. We never do; they never respond to these issues that we raise in debate. There is an equivocation where the rules are very clear, and this is the equivocation we got used to under Federal Labor for years in this town - the sleazy manner in which developments insinuated themselves into our communities through this central city centre and the rest.
It is a very fateful day and the media can carry the story. There is the klaxon sounding for the Liberal Party - it is dive, dive, dive from here on, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. That is the way it is going to go for them because they have chosen to oppose the community, ironically in one of their strongest bailiwicks. They will know the outcome of that.
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