Page 1822 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 19 August 1992
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Mr Deputy Speaker, members of all political persuasions in this house ought to be supporting this motion. It quite rightly says that we have to stand up and defend the integrity of the people of the ACT. Notwithstanding which political party or which politician denigrates that integrity, all members of this place ought to follow the lead of members of this side of this house, as well as some members on the other side of the house, I must concede, who always stand up and defend the rights of the people of the ACT.
MS ELLIS (11.38): There are several points that I would like to make on this matter which Mr Kaine has brought to the attention of the Assembly. Part of our responsibility as representatives of the people of Canberra is to promote Canberra and to defend the people of Canberra from unwarranted attacks related to perceived lifestyles, working conditions, social structure and so on. These are not political issues; they are Canberra issues.
Mr Kaine is quick to use quotes from the Victorian State Labor Party members. Although he acknowledges, and rightly so, that politicians of all persuasions attack Canberra, he failed to use, or overlooked the use of, any of those quotes. I feel compelled to remind Mr Kaine of those and of the many other Canberra-bashing techniques employed by non-Canberrans of every political persuasion. In fact, there are several ways of attacking Canberra. Words are one thing. However, one wonders about the real attack on Canberra that would occur should the Federal Opposition have the opportunity to impose the Hewson doctrine onto the local Canberra economy. It is the words of the likes - - -
Mr Humphries: I raise a point of order. Mr Deputy Speaker, I am sure Ms Ellis will not be making the mistake made by Mr Berry in digressing from the matter on the notice paper. You have already ruled on that. I hope that Ms Ellis will take account of that fact.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would hope that Ms Ellis would not be digressing from the motion on the notice paper.
MS ELLIS: No, and if I am given the opportunity I will lead directly to it. It is the words of the likes of Hewson, Reith and Fischer that we must take note of, because they give us a clear indication of what the physical and real threat to Canberra would be under their administration. The first thing I will refer to, if I may, is a Tim Fischer media release. If we are talking about media reports, let us refer to them. This morning I heard Senator Margaret Reid proudly espouse the virtues of the Menzies Government. She spoke of Menzies having been the builder of Canberra. She should have talked to Tim Fischer, because in May 1992 he said:
If the Federal Parliament, which spent the first quarter of a century in Melbourne, had not been moved to the 'cocoon of Canberra' in 1927 then the impact of the great depression of the 30s -
I think marginally under a tory government -
might have been less; but certainly the great recession of the 1990s would have been a whole lot less significant.
Mr Kaine: Why do they use nineteenth century terminology? I am not a Tory.
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