Page 1774 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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However, as we saw the ongoing farce of two services in constant conflict, it became apparent that we had to act. You Liberal members opposite - Mr Kaine, Mrs Carnell and Mr Westende - in the debate in this Assembly in December were urging me to act decisively to transfer this responsibility to one service. Now that we have done it, you are squawking. Mr Humphries, who is saying that we should reverse this decision, is in effect saying, "Government, you should go out and duplicate resources. You should go out, Government, and have a bit of waste, have a bit of overservicing, have a bit of duplication". I note that the Canberra Business Council, which is not noted for putting out statements and submissions in support of the Australian Labor Party, in its budget submission has commended the Government for the rationalisations and amalgamations it has achieved in emergency services, and has said, "This is the sort of model of public administration that we need in this Territory".
Here is Mr Humphries running around saying, "Go out and duplicate a service. Shock, horror, do not go down the path of rationalising services; go out and duplicate a service", making himself look a dill. I really wonder what the backers of the Liberal Party in this Territory, the Canberra business community, think about you clowns in this place. They are out there urging the Government to achieve some sensible reforms in public administration, to drive the ratepayers' dollar even further all the time, and here you are calling upon the Government to have a bit of duplication, a bit of overservicing.
The fact of the matter is that Labor and Alliance governments have been wrestling with the dilemma of the duplication of road rescue services since self-government. The attempts to have the two services continue to cooperate were an abysmal failure. They were resulting in fisticuffs at the scene of accidents. We made the decision to put the responsibility for road rescue with the Fire Brigade. The Fire Brigade will be performing that responsibility with not one additional dollar of resources and not one additional personnel resource. They are absorbing it within existing resources, and it is freeing up some eight police officers to attend to other duties.
Is Mr Humphries running around to the community saying, "Do not put additional police out on the streets fighting crime; have more of them at Weston Creek waiting for an emergency"? Or is he adopting the hysterical attitude of the Australian Federal Police Association in its remarkable press release, put out earlier today, attacking the Government in this quite histrionic language:
A contemptible government does not govern, it dictates.
So says the Australian Federal Police Association, presumably about me. Madam Speaker, these are not helpful comments in the public debate. Mr Humphries's and Mr Stevenson's attacks on me are not helpful in the public debate. Mr Louttit and the Canberra Business Council make a contribution that is helpful. Mr Louttit is also involved in the Business Council, I understand. The Canberra Business Council's submission to the Government on the budget commends the Government for its rationalisations and amalgamations in relation to emergency services. It says, "This is an example of what government should be doing". You will see a lot more of these sorts of sensible decisions from a Labor government.
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