Page 441 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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Mr Humphries: Let us face it; you have been outflanked.
MR BERRY: Mr Humphries says, "You have been outflanked". It is all a game to Mr Humphries. What we think about in the Labor Party is the quality of life and the health of the community. That is why we are concerned about these particular issues.
Mr Moore: What you think about in the Labor Party is preselection and getting elected.
MR BERRY: I hear a chuckle from Mr Moore, too. They are all in deep trouble over this, and they are still stinging. I am sorry about that, but it is true. In sport, we have done well again. I need to mention only the high participation rates, of both men and women, in the ACT. We are the highest in the land. I think the Labor Government can take some credit for that because of our commitment to sport; because of our recognition of the social worth of sport and our continuing commitment to it. So, across the board, in my portfolios, as in other portfolios, there has been a solid approach in the past. There will continue to be a solid approach in the future, and that is what aggravates the Liberals opposite most.
MR DE DOMENICO (5.22): Madam Speaker, we have just listened to Mr Berry and I think that the most significant thing I can remember him saying was, "They have lost and they ought to know it by now". Perhaps I can show Mr Berry who has lost. I will tell you who is losing, Mr Berry, through you, Madam Speaker - the 3,800 people on the list waiting to get into hospital. They believe that they are losing. Much was said about how wonderful everything is; that everyone is feeling better now. "I am all right now", says Mr Berry about his health department. Mr Berry, if you are all right, with a $4.9m blow-out in six months, I would hate to see what would happen if you were not all right. That is something that we can expect from this Minister because he has never been on budget yet and, dare I say it, he never will be on budget.
Mr Kaine commented on a statement made by Ms Follett. At the top of page 4 she said:
They have also supported a number of Government initiatives, including development in the North Watson area, which the Opposition has tried to delay.
Ms Follett knows that that is not true. She said it, knowing that it was not true; so I leave people to work out in their own way why she said it. As Mr Kaine said, it is not going to be delayed one minute. The variation was introduced into this house and it was approved, subject to the economic study which has now been produced. After sitting in this house for the allowable period, it will be debated tomorrow, as it would have been debated had the economic report not been produced. Ms Follett's suggestion that the Opposition tried to delay the project is simply not true. I do not know who wrote this speech, but whoever wrote it was incorrect.
Since I have been in this place, since February 1992, I have heard Ms Follett tell us all that the No. 1 priority in her mind was youth unemployment.
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