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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 9 Hansard (23 November) . . Page.. 2481 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

We want to see this town run according to the principles of the Labor Party. We do not want to see the town run according to the principles of the Liberal Party. That is why we criticise decisions by the Liberal Government, which are not Labor decisions. That is why we call on members of the crossbenches, who are not happy with the Liberal decisions of this Liberal Government, to support the Labor Party rather than supporting the Liberal Party. That is not a matter of shame on the part of members on this side of the house. We think that is appropriate. We believe that we could do a better job than those people. People might not want to give us a go, and that is their decision; but, if they end up with a Liberal government because they have voted for a Liberal government, they cannot be too surprised. They cannot, as everyone seems to want to, turn round and say to the Labor Party, "It is your fault that all these bad things are happening". The ACT Greens say that it is the Labor Party's fault that there is going to be a cut to the public transport system. Mr Moore and the Education Union say that it is the Labor Party's fault that there is going to be a cut in education. But it is not the Labor Party's fault. The Labor Party is in opposition. The Liberal Party is in government. While there is a Liberal government you will get Liberal policies.

As Mr Connolly has eloquently pointed out, if you adopt the negotiating position, if you go into your negotiations saying, "Whatever you do we will support you", that is not a very good negotiating position. The end result is that you will not get very much out of the negotiations - and they did not. Unless you are willing to put the Government's job on the line, unless you are willing to say, "Deliver the policies we want or we will turn to the Labor Party and see whether they will deliver the policies we want", you will not get the kind of changes the people on the crossbenches have been looking for.

Maybe the people on the crossbenches are not ready for that change. That is their decision. They have chosen the Liberal Government. It is their decision when they want to change. But we will always advocate how we could do a better job. We will always stand ready to govern, because we are the alternative government in this house. That is the system of government we have, and we will stand by that system. When the day comes that the people on the crossbenches have had enough of this Liberal Government, we will be only too happy to form a government. In the meantime, they cannot blame the Opposition for what the Government is doing.

In relation to public transport, what the Government is doing is really very bad. It is a serious erosion of services, and it is not surprising that we are seeing this erosion of services, because we have a Minister who makes decisions without knowing what the implications of those decisions are, both in urban services and in public transport, and because we have a Minister who is not really committed to public services anyway. He believes, like Mrs Carnell, that it is not the role of governments to provide services.

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