Page 1213 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (4.09): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, when I first saw the topic of Mr Kaine's matter of public importance I, first of all, asked myself why Mrs Carnell was not doing it. I would have expected her, as the ostensibly new leader of the Liberals, to take on this kind of a function. It is, after all, a matter which, as Mr Kaine has pointed out, affects the whole of our community and the whole of government and it ought, in my view, to be a matter taken up by the current Leader of the Opposition.
The fact of the matter is that the Liberals are very new to consultation. Mr Kaine's speech today, although there was a great deal of it that I agree with, barely touched upon the notion of consultation, and this MPI is supposed to be about consulting the community. But, of course, when you look at the manner in which the Liberals consult the community, their discomfort with the whole issue becomes very clear indeed. We have before us, for example, Mrs Carnell's current proposal for a local council for the ACT. I ask myself: Did she consult with her colleagues on that? If so, was it at the Eagle Hawk Hill Motel? Has she consulted with the Liberal Party, because it seems to me to be quite a departure from their policy? Now that she has decided what to do, she has decided to go out and consult the community. Of course, that is completely back to front.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is very much in accord, however, with the Liberals' so-called consultation process on Mr Cornwell's agenda of school closures. We have heard Mr Cornwell say repeatedly that he intends to close schools when he gets the opportunity. How does he intend to do it? He intends to go around with his hit list, decide which ones to close, and then consult on it. That is out of his own mouth, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. That is the Liberals' idea on consultation.
Mr De Domenico: Do you believe everything Mr Abraham says?
Mr Cornwell: You should have listened to the retraction, white gloves.
Mrs Grassby: I take a point of order, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. Do you think we could hear the Chief Minister? I am sitting back here and I cannot hear a word she says. I would like to hear what she has to say.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS FOLLETT: Thank you, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. I might warn you that I will be seeking to finalise my remarks, so they can interrupt as much as they like. By contrast, the Labor Party in government and in opposition does consult regularly, and we consult thoroughly, with the community that we are here to serve. We have, for example, continued throughout our time in this Assembly to consult on budget matters. That has not been the Liberal idea of consultation of telling them what you are going to do and then going out and consulting after the fact. We have actually asked for people's views and then changed the budget, changed the way that we do things as a result of receiving those views. That is the appropriate way that consultation should occur. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I could point to some recycling issues, some transport issues, bus timetabling issues and so on as examples of where the Government has taken note of what the community says.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .