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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2920 ..

MR BERRY (10.58): I am happy to say that the Labor Party will be supporting that amendment. It is a rare occasion that you find people in this place who are prepared to admit to an oversight. This Government opposite will not admit to its oversight in relation to its response to - - -

Mr De Domenico: "The birthing centre will be closing".

Mr Humphries: "Namadgi will be sold".

MR BERRY: Can we stop the clock, Mr Speaker, and let them get their interjections over with early, and then I will get on with my speech? Helicopter Humphries over there just cannot remain quiet. He ought to be embarrassed for the whole pathetic bunch.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, if you seek the protection of the Chair, you should not be provocative.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I do not know that the standing orders prevent one from being provocative in this place.

MR SPEAKER: But they do require you to be relevant to the motion.

MR BERRY: If that were the case, Mr Speaker, this place would be shrouded in a veil of silence for most of the time.

I want to talk about the pathetic response from the Government in relation to this matter in the first place. I want to talk about the community's response and the world's response, how we contributed and, of course, the results. The Government's response in the first place was pathetic. Mrs Carnell had to be dragged kicking and screaming all the way on this issue. This is somebody who said before the last election that she was committed to a council style of government and that she wanted to use the barometer out there in the community to find out how the community feels and react accordingly. Well, it just showed what a sham that promise was, because Mrs Carnell was taking no notice at all of the community reaction to this horrible series of events in the South Pacific. She had to be dragged kicking and screaming all the way in relation to the matter. I was pleased to be involved in that campaign because it was with great delight that I was able to assist in the demolition of this Government's attitude in relation to that matter. They were severely embarrassed, and they should have been, because they were pathetic, ignorant, rude, insensitive - the lot.

Then we go to the issue of Versailles. Mrs Carnell and the rest of her merry troop were quick to decry every move that was taken to send the message home strongly to the French. It was regrettable that we had to react, I think, against a sister-city relationship, but we did not start this; the French started this. What had to happen was that there had to be a strong message sent to the French people. I hope that the people of Versailles now realise that there are many people throughout the world who are upset with the French Government. I hope they pass on our feelings the next time they get a chance to vote over there and take into account the atrocity on the environment which has been committed by the French Government. This world outcry, I am sure, has sent a message to the French people.

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