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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2938 ..

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, I am quite happy to answer the former Leader of the Opposition. Ms Follett, when Mr Berry let loose what he was going to do tomorrow, I was ready for it. It is not hard, I have to tell you, because Mr Berry usually comes into this place and lets us know what he thinks we are going to close down tomorrow or in the year 2010. This time Mr Berry got it wrong yet again. Last week it was the birthing centre. Wrong, Wayne! It has not closed. Last week it was Mark Baker, too. He was supposed to resign. Mr Berry was wrong on that one as well. That was two in one week. This is No. 1 this week - the buses. You are wrong again, Mr Berry. The old fact-free zone syndrome is alive and kicking. Mr Whitecross, if he had any skerrick of leadership in any of his bones, should tell that man to back away, because he is an embarrassment, not just to the Labor Party but to the community as a whole.

Let us have a look at the facts. Mr Berry is not interested in the facts, only in scaremongering and getting media attention. I understand from media sources - and now we know - that Mr Berry is intending to table in the Assembly tomorrow a document which calls on the Government to review its decision to cut services from a number of Belconnen suburbs that Mr Berry names - Charnwood, Flynn, Fraser, Melba and Scullin, to name a few - to the Kippax group centre. Of course, the Government has made no such decision. Mr Berry is saying that we are cutting services right, left and centre. The Government has not made a decision yet. What a surprise, Mr Speaker! Mr Berry is wrong. He is wrong again. What is happening? Has Mr Berry come upstairs and asked for a briefing from ACTION? Of course not. He has got the Gatling gun, had a look around and said, "I will hit someone, as long as I fire some bullets here". Thank God you have banned automatic weapons, Mr Humphries. He will hit someone, as long as he starts firing. Mr Berry should have known, had he come up and asked for the information - - -

Mr Berry: I got you.

MR DE DOMENICO: You have not got me at all, mate. I have not finished yet. This is a very long answer, I have to tell you; so sit back, relax and enjoy it, and perhaps we will see how good you are as leader next week.

Of course, the Government has made no such decision, as I said. Mr Berry was wrong. What is happening, in fact, is that ACTION is currently undertaking a review of some services throughout Belconnen with a view to perhaps refining some routes in light of patronage data and other factors.

Mr Whitecross: Refining? Cutting.

MR DE DOMENICO: You sit down and listen, Mr Ex-leader. You will be right, too. Sensible management practice, which is something that those across the other side of the house are devoid of, is the best way to ensure that the service that is being provided is the service the customer wants. Some of the initiatives that might be put forward for public comment include the straightening out of some routes that meander in a time-consuming way through the suburbs. If a service currently goes via Kippax but no-one who uses that service wants to get off at Kippax, then it makes sense for that service to reach its destination by a more direct route. That would be a commonsense approach, but then commonsense is something that the other side is devoid of.

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