Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4390 ..

Mr Whitecross: He should leave the Canberra bashing to the current Prime Minister.

MR SPEAKER: Order! The Chief Minister is answering the question, not you.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I understood that Mr Moore asked me what I was doing about it. One of the things I was doing about it was raising it with the current Prime Minister because I believe that is something really important. It was in the context of speaking to the current Prime Minister about, obviously, the very fast train project but also about the attitude of some to Canberra. I used this as an example of stupidity and unacceptable behaviour on the part of people who should know better. Making those comments about public servants and others in Canberra shows that he knows nothing about Canberra.

We will certainly be writing to the Australian along those lines. I believe everybody in this house should, and I think Canberrans should as well. It is about time that uninformed or ill-informed Australians said, "No; it is not good enough anymore to bag the national capital". This is not our national capital; it is a national capital that belongs to all Australians, Malcolm Fraser included. It was fascinating to me, Mr Speaker, for Malcolm Fraser to make comments about how Canberra had grown far too much. A lot of that growth happened when he was Prime Minister.

MR MOORE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker, on the Chief Minister's meeting with the current Prime Minister. Is not Malcolm Fraser simply voicing, though, what the current Prime Minister is actually doing?

MRS CARNELL: That is a hypothetical question, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold that.

Mr Moore: There is nothing hypothetical about what he is doing.

MR SPEAKER: How would you know?

MRS CARNELL: I did put to the current Prime Minister real concerns about the attitudes that seem to be emanating from the hill at this stage and again raised the issue of where the current Prime Minister lives. I believe he should live here in Canberra.

Mr Whitecross: That was the first time.

MRS CARNELL: It was not the first time, I can promise you. I also made a number of points with regard to the attitudes that appear to be coming from the hill. I hope that we will see a change, Mr Speaker.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .