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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 23 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

It has become increasingly clear that you do not have any confidence in the ability of the Government to manage community consultation surrounding major projects such as the National Capital Beyond 2000 Report or the Kingston Foreshore redevelopment. I refer particularly to the comments attributed to you in an article in The Canberra Times of 8 December 1996 regarding the former project.

The ACT Government believes because you no longer have confidence in these mechanisms, it is inappropriate for you to continue to serve as a Member of the Board of the Interim Kingston Foreshore Authority. The Government has therefore decided to discontinue your appointment with immediate effect and has notified the Chairman of this decision.

I think that clearly states the Government's position on this. I think the Government was enormously tolerant, over a very long period of time, of comments that were made about public servants. Politicians are fair game, but I do not believe public servants are. I will stick by that, and this side of the house will stick by our commitment to ensure that public servants are not subject to the sort of criticism that they have been subjected to by Ms Rees.

MR HIRD: It is an honour for me to direct a question to Mr Kaine, who is on the front bench once again. My question is to the Minister for Urban Services. Does the Minister agree with the reported comments of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Whitecross, this week that the ACTION bus service is "lousy, appalling"?

MR KAINE: Thank you, Mr Hird. No, of course I do not agree with these grossly irresponsible statements that come from the Leader of the Opposition. Every now and again the Leader of the Opposition feels that he has to go a little overboard and prove himself to be rather more macho than his image usually projects. I do not believe that that sort of comment coming from a member of this place does any of us much credit. It implies that we have a second-rate bus service that does not meet the needs of the community. In fact, the contrary is the case. Anybody who has taken any time at all to look at the performance of ACTION knows full well that that kind of criticism is totally unjustified.

Over a period of years, which incidentally began under a Labor government, to their credit - although it is not much to the credit of some of the people who sit opposite now - ACTION began to reduce the costs of this public service to the community and to make it more efficient. I think that if you were to ask Mr Connolly the same question that Mr Hird has asked me he would take the same tack in answering it. He would not agree with the current Leader of the Opposition on this point either. There has been a process going on for a number of years now to make ACTION more efficient and to make

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