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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 1513 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

We have seen this Government's attitude to the Assembly, and this is where this attitude suddenly to give primacy to the Assembly on this question of a health budget blow-out is just breathtaking in its hypocrisy. Every question time since this Government came to power we have seen them refuse to answer questions.

Mrs Carnell: Oh, rubbish! Look who is talking.

MS McRAE: They bleated constantly. Here they go again. They bleated constantly in the past about their perceived attitude of our shortcomings in terms of answering questions. They carried on endlessly about how dreadful we were, supposedly, and they still bleat about that; yet, when they get an opportunity to be in power, do they show any leadership? Do they set a standard? Do they give leadership to the people of the ACT? We have not seen that once in question time. We have not seen it once in response to any member, not just Opposition members but also crossbench members. They are treated with contempt - "How dare they ask questions! How dare they ask for information! Labor never answered questions". What a lot of nonsense! It is an absolution of leadership on the part of these people, a transferral of responsibility, a refusal to accept what it means to be a Minister or a Chief Minister.

Of course, they all carry on endlessly and point fingers, but it does not wash. It does not wash with the members of the Assembly, and it does not wash with the people of the ACT. They are not impressed one bit. These are Ministers with responsibilities and the responsibilities are not being delivered. We find that we ask for papers and we do not get them. We have to push and push for every single bit of information.

Mrs Carnell: What about the VITAB contract? We still have not seen that.

MS McRAE: They bleat again. What about the VMOs contracts, Mrs Carnell? You are now in charge. You are showing no leadership. You are not taking responsibility for the things that you have claimed that you will take responsibility for. It is absolutely useless to talk about what other people do or do not do. You are in charge. You are to set the leadership standards, and you have failed.

The Appropriation Bill (No. 2) is simply an off-loading of a problem that the Executive should have dealt with. It does not matter how they dealt with it; they should have dealt with it and come and told us how they dealt with it. It is a Minister refusing to accept responsibility for mismanagement of her own department. In any other parliament the Chief Minister would have dealt with that Minister. That is what Cabinets are for. That is what the Executive is for. That is the responsibility that they have been vested with.

Mr Humphries: Like Ms Follett dealt with Mr Berry.

MS McRAE: Here we go again: "What somebody else did is good enough for us". You are in charge now and you are ducking your responsibilities. All we have seen from this Government is an attempt to cover up mismanagement. We were told at the Estimates Committee, this open process, this amazing new world that we were given

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