Page 1396 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 12 May 1993
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ADJOURNMENT
Motion (by Mr Berry) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Community Consultation
MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (5.24): I would like to read a letter from me to the editor in response to the editorial today. It states:
I totally reject any notion that I was being "mischievous" by talking about the concept of asking the community how they want to be governed. (Editorial, CT, 12.5.93) The interpretation placed on my remarks is that of the media, not my remarks themselves.
Your editorial says I was "floating the idea of (my) party's supporting a more council-like government for the ACT". What I said, in a Media Release I issued on Monday 10 May 1993, was: "In the past, the people of Canberra have sent us a clear message: they want Council-style government. If this is still the case, we will look at how to deliver a Council-style of Government within the framework of existing Commonwealth legislation. As a Party representative of a large proportion of the people of Canberra, it is our duty to consider how appropriate all structures of Government are for the people of the ACT.
If there is anything wrong with my statement suggesting that the Liberal Party should be responsive to the people in the community, then The Canberra Times are as out-of-touch as my critics in the Labor Party.
Your editorial rightly says "This is not to say that the style of ACT Government should be set in stone. There is always scope for improvement".
That is what I said, in different words. And if the community agrees then, as I said, it is my aim, as well as that of the Liberal Party, to make the ACT Legislative Assembly more responsive to that wish.
Yours Sincerely,
Community Consultation
MR LAMONT (5.27): I wish to quote from a letter that I am writing to the editor of the Canberra Times. It says: "In reference to Mrs Carnell's letter and your editorial of yesterday, congratulations to Mrs Carnell for standing up in the Assembly and reading out this letter to you after she had just voted in a way that is diametrically opposed to the sentiment expressed in her letter".
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Assembly adjourned at 5.27 pm
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