Page 4755 - Week 15 - Thursday, 16 December 1993
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Mr Kaine: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is with some regret that I interrupt the Minister, but perhaps you would like to point out to the Minister, Madam Speaker, that the subject is the ACT Government's performance during 1993. What Mrs Carnell did, said or otherwise is totally irrelevant to the debate. Perhaps you would direct the Minister to keep to the point, which is the Government's performance, not the Opposition's performance.
Mr Lamont: I rise to support the point of order. What Mr Kaine said - that what Mrs Carnell said is irrelevant - is true.
MADAM SPEAKER: I think Mr Wood knows what he is talking about. Continue, Mr Wood.
MR WOOD: I am not so sure that I agree that it was irrelevant. Mr Kaine wants to avoid a free-flowing debate in this Assembly, and I am not surprised.
To go on about Mrs Carnell's response, she picked on every item of expenditure; she picked on a number of areas where we should be spending more money, which is a constant cry from the Opposition. She picked every tax and then she listed numbers of places where we were not spending more money. Nowhere in that speech by the Leader of the Opposition was there a responsible attitude taken. Nowhere did she say, "This is the direction in which we ought to be going in raising revenue; this is our accommodation - - -
Mr Moore: That is your job.
MR WOOD: No, it is not - not if you want to be responsible. We know that. Nowhere in this speech did she reflect an alternative strategy. Nowhere was there some leadership on the part of the Liberal Party as to the direction in which we should be going. It may be that the Liberal Party has no real sense of direction. They cannot say where they would go as a government. It is certainly the case that if Mrs Carnell was magically transformed into Chief Minister she could not pursue the argument she ran in her reply to the budget. It was somewhat of a contrast to the replies that Mr Kaine used to give. To give Mr Kaine his credit, he would always acknowledge the financial limitations imposed on the Territory.
There has been a significant change in the Liberal attitude. I guess that it is entirely possible for Mrs Carnell to have come up with an alternative strategy. There would be strategies that the Liberals could pursue that were in accordance with their philosophy, but a factor has entered into this since Mrs Carnell arrived as Leader of the Opposition - perhaps it is the reason she did arrive as leader of the Liberal Party - and that is the careful strategy upon which they have now embarked to tell the ACT community exactly what they want to hear; to give out only good news, and never to suggest anything that might make it slightly uncomfortable for the ACT voter to take on board.
Mr Connolly: Total abdication of leadership.
MR WOOD: What was it, Mr Connolly?
Mr Connolly: Total abdication of political leadership.
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