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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (8 April) . . Page.. 704 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

to set the scene for World War II. Think of the way the father of the Liberal Party, Bob Menzies, viewed Japan. Menzies had lived through the war; yet in the early 1950s he invited a small delegation of Japanese industrialists to Australia. In his book Flying the Kite, former Labor senator John Button says the invitation was courageous and prescient, given the post-war political climate at the time. Mr Button describes it as a seminal point in Australia-Japan relations. Five years after the war Bob Menzies was looking to the future. It is now 52 years since the war, and John Howard has his eyes firmly fixed on 1945 and on an issue so petty that it is pathetic to watch.

Like war, forgiveness and peace require courage from our leaders. In the Gospel of Luke we are told that in the moments before Jesus Christ died He called on His Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him, "for they know not what they do". Sometimes we have to be large enough to forgive people in spite of their actions. Sometimes the only way forward is to bury the past. This is such a time. If Western leaders, like Menzies, showed the courage to embrace peace in the shadow of the war, when the wounds of those who had lost loved ones were still raw, why is our current Prime Minister afraid to stand up and be counted among them? If he feels so strongly about the issue of a Japanese apology, then I suggest he make his feelings known to the Japanese Prime Minister, who will be visiting Australia shortly after the visit of the delegation from Nara and shortly after Anzac Day. There could be no better forum than this. It would have far more impact than beating the ACT about the head over a tiny piece of ground near the lake, where we hope to celebrate the special relationship we have with our friends in Nara.

I finish by saying that there was one more reason to stand up to the Federal Liberal Party. This party has shown nothing but contempt for the ACT since coming into power last year. This party has ripped the heart out of this town; and the Prime Minister has expressed his feelings with his feet. He is neither resident nor ratepayer; so, to me, his opinion on local issues is less important than the opinion of any one of my constituents in Brindabella. This Assembly has been given responsibility for this town's affairs, and we should resist any attempts to be directed on local matters by a government which has scant regard for our wellbeing. If the Federal Liberal Party wants to run Canberra, then it should resume control of all its affairs and not just interfere when it sees fit.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister) (3.52): When we debate this issue we have to look at it as, I think, two separate issues because there have been two issues raised. The first concerns issues raised by Digger James, Jacqui Rees and, I suppose, the Prime Minister indirectly about the appropriateness of the word "peace" in the title of the park and the timing of the mayor's visit. The second issue relates to the process undertaken in developing the concept of the park, its name and, in particular, the consultation process that was actually undertaken.

I will take the RSL's and others' concerns about the word "peace" first. The Canberra/Nara Sister City Committee have been the people involved in this whole process all the way through. I think members of the Assembly would have heard that the mayor of Nara made the comment yesterday that he did not put the name forward; that, in fact, he did not mind what the park was called. The people who minded what the park was called were the people who actually decided on the name, and that was the Canberra/Nara Sister City Committee. The park is in no way a war memorial.

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