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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4365 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

sort of a climate, I would have to say. But that sort of courage would have to be more akin to stupidity. You cannot stifle the employment market with these sorts of outrageous legislative activities which offend against the provision of jobs in the community.

Whenever Mrs Carnell gets up on her hind legs to talk brazenly about this, she should remember 5,600 people who have not had jobs over the last 12 months, 5,600 fewer people employed. Since she came to office, there are 2,700 more on the unemployment list, and we have the disgraceful situation of three full months where the youth unemployment rate has been over 50 per cent. How can you brazenly stand up in this place and defend this outrageous legislation, which you people dragged into this place on the pretence that you were doing something for small business? You have done nothing for anybody. In fact, what you have done is create one of the biggest blunders of all time. You are going to sink with it, and we are going to make sure that you sink with it.

The community know and understand what you have done to their freedom to shop when they like. They know and understand what you have done to limit the available jobs out in the community. They know and understand what you have done to cause some of their kids to lose their jobs, and some of their fathers and mothers to lose their jobs. Do not accuse us of anything when you have a look at your record. This is the Government that is supposed to stand under the Liberal ideology of deregulation.

Mrs Carnell: We do not run on ideology.

MR BERRY: Your party apparently does, because they are becoming very hesitant about your position in relation to these shopping hours and saying, "This is a big worry for us". They can tell that out in the electorate the community is seething over this issue, because they know it is a dumb move. I do not care how brazen you are, Mrs Carnell, and how you try to defend this position. It is indefensible. You are not making any ground. This admission of a mistake by your attempt to regulate more available shopping hours for the community is no more than that - an admission of a monstrous mistake - and you try to worm out from under it. The Greens, throwing in with you, admitting that they have made a mistake, would be refreshing news to the community as well. The community knows that you have all made a mistake, and they would love to see this admission.

What you should do is have the courage to support Mr Osborne's Bill. You should have the courage to do it, and make sure that the community gets the message loud and clear, "The Liberals and the Greens were wrong. We are sorry. Vote for Osborne's legislation, so that some sanity can come back into this issue at long last". This issue was born out of Mrs Carnell's shopkeeper mentality, small shopping centre mentality, against a campaign that was run under the Save our Shops banner. They had to do something, so they did something that was absolutely useless.

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