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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2918 ..

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, how are we going there?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Whitecross has the call.

MR WHITECROSS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The fact is that there was very widespread opposition to what the French did, and it was completely appropriate for the Labor Party in this place, in conjunction with the Greens and the Independents, to demonstrate this kind of leadership on this issue and to reflect the opinion of the Australian community.

Mr Humphries says, "Oh, it was all meaningless. It did not matter". Mr Humphries just shows his ignorance there. Mr Humphries shows his ignorance of the power of collective action and collective expressions of opinions. Each individual's opinion may matter little. The opinion of the ACT Assembly may matter little to the French Government. But it is the cumulative effect of thousands of voices expressing their opposition to what the French were doing that matters; and our voice was just one more.

Mr Speaker, the fact is - and if Mr Humphries had paid closer attention to this he would know it - that the French were absolutely stunned by the level of - - -

Mr De Domenico: By the ACT's action? Chirac shook in his shoes at Mr Whitecross!

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, how are you going?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Whitecross has the call.

Mr De Domenico: Even the people in Tuggeranong do not know who you are. How the hell do you think President Chirac does?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Whitecross, continue.

MR WHITECROSS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The fact is that the French were stunned by the level of international opposition and condemnation of what they had done and by the strength of feeling as expressed in our decision to put a ban on the purchase of French products for a period of time. The ACT is just one voice in that collective voice. There is no doubt that it has had an effect on the French. There is no doubt that it hastened the end of the testing that they did in the Pacific. There is no doubt that it focused their mind very much on the importance of getting out of the business of nuclear testing in the South Pacific. We have to have regard to the strength of that, and the Liberal Party do themselves no credit by continuing to mock the stand that we took and that the people of Canberra wanted us to take.

Mrs Carnell: That the people of Australia did not take.

MR WHITECROSS: That the people of Australia did take; even if other governments did not take it.

Mrs Carnell: No, they did not; there was no ban. It was the ban that was the issue, not the opposition.

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