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Canberra Times . . Page.. 319 ..

Roadworks - Hall

MR HIRD: I direct a question to Mr De Domenico as Minister for Urban Services. I draw the Minister's attention to concern among my constituents in Hall about the sealing of roads in that village. I ask the Minister: What will the Government do to upgrade these roads? Does he consider it satisfactory that the people of Hall have had to wait so long for basic necessary roadworks to be undertaken in that village?

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Mr Hird for his question. Mr Speaker, the failure to respond to the legitimate needs of the Hall residents is a legacy of the previous Government's ineptitude and total arrogance. I say “ineptitude” because the first two stages to upgrade and seal gravel roads in Hall were completed as part of the capital works program in 1990-91, I am told, and 1991-92; but the third stage, designed to complete all the gravel roads in Hall, was deferred and put into the too-hard basket by the previous Government for three years. So, for three years all the residents of Hall Street and a good number in Alexandra and Loftus Streets in Hall had to live with unsealed and substandard roads.

The arrogance of the previous Government was such that one constituent resorted to making representations to the Federal Labor member for Fraser, Mr Langmore - - -

Mr Hird: Labor?

MR DE DOMENICO: Yes, the Labor member. He resorted to going to Mr Langmore, I am told, when no satisfaction was forthcoming from my predecessor. It shows the depth of complacency that existed then when constituents lost faith in the ability of their own Government to solve their problems. While this was just one of the many instances of Labor's arrogance, it was correctly highlighted by Mr Bachelard in the Canberra Times of 19 February as a symbol of the inability of the previous Government to be responsive to the community’s reasonable needs. Mr Bachelard said:

It was Hall, where, who knows why - perhaps about sealed streets - Bill Stefaniak won 26 per cent of the vote compared to only seven per cent for Labor's Wayne Berry.

That is not the Liberal Party speaking. The Follett Government was more interested, it seems, in the perks of power and profligate spending, with no tangible benefits to the people of Canberra. Mr Speaker, this situation naturally appalled me when brought to my attention by Mr Hird and Mr Stefaniak, and I can tell members that I have approved work to commence as soon as possible to complete the sealing of the roads in question.

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