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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3017 ..

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, you are quite right to hold me to the motion. The motion is about bus services and the cuts to bus services which affect small business. Small businesses have been keen to collect signatures to oppose what this Government is doing. They have been affected by this Government, by other things I have related which seem to embarrass Mr De Domenico. Things like job losses and a flat economy should be things they are embarrassed about.

Mr De Domenico: You are a smart - - -

MR BERRY: I know you have been outsmarted on this one. You thought you - - -

Mr De Domenico: I have not spoken yet.

MR BERRY: You have been outsmarted by 18 or 20 senior citizens from Collingrove Court in Scullin. That is how you have been outsmarted. They have put the public pressure on you, and it is to their credit that you have started to turn around, but what we want to see is the full result and all of their services maintained. What we also want to make sure of is those eight suburbs where other senior citizens, young people and unemployed are threatened by this Government.

Mr Speaker, I urge members to support this motion. It calls on the Government to review this proposal and, most importantly, ensure that services to Kippax and those small businesses which you claim to represent are not cut from those suburbs and that there is access to public transport for the aged, such as the residents of Collingrove Court, who have done a good job, as I have pointed out a couple of times, and other aged residents throughout the Belconnen community. I urge members to support this motion.

MR SPEAKER: Mr De Domenico, on the question of the word "mendacious", Speaker Prowse, Deputy Speaker Stefaniak and Speaker McRae all sought the withdrawal of the word. I will uphold their point of view and ruling. Would you mind withdrawing it, Mr De Domenico.

Mr De Domenico: Mr Speaker, I withdraw the word "mendacious". I ask you, Mr Speaker, to come back to this Assembly and tell members exactly what words along those lines we are allowed to use. It would be very helpful. I am getting to the stage where I am sick and tired of it and we are running out of words in the dictionary to express certain viewpoints.

Mr Berry: I can give him a few. Would you like me to give you a few words about this Government?

MR SPEAKER: No; I would like you to sit down and be quiet.

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services) (11.11): There are two things I need to say at the outset about Mr Berry's comments. The first thing is that Mr Berry infers that under pressure we changed our minds re Collingrove Court. There was never any intention to cut this service. Mr Berry should have had a proper look at the document that he said was leaked to him. There was a map on the back of the full document. I do not know whether he has the full document or just selected pages from it.

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