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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1086 ..

Mr Kaine: And that big iron ball going whack, whack, whack.

MR HUMPHRIES: That is right. Those things are not without considerable noise, Ms Horodny. There would be six weeks of high-powered equipment munching away at the tower building and Sylvia Curley House that is completely unnecessary. I might be able to live with that sort of noise, but I am not a patient in the hospice. I will be, if I hear many more of those speeches from Ms Horodny, but for the moment I am not.

Mr Berry: What did you do with the tortoises, Gary?

MR HUMPHRIES: Tortoises?

Mr Berry: The tortoises at Sylvia Curley House. The Environment Minister does not know?

MR HUMPHRIES: I am sorry; I know nothing about the tortoises at Sylvia Curley House. I confess that I am ignorant of the tortoises. If they are not an endangered species and are not indigenous, I do not care.

Ms McRae: They are endangered now; they are about to be imploded.

MR HUMPHRIES: Obviously. If the buildings were demolished by implosion, those six weeks would instead be used for the preparation for this implosion - a process which causes much less noise.

Mr Speaker, when we were examining tenders for this project we weighed up a range of complex factors that require a careful balancing of sometimes complex interests. Recycling was a factor, but it was not the only factor. If we had had a one-dimensional tender selection we may have gone with the company that Ms Horodny is obviously lobbying for, but the real world is sadly more complex than that and governments have to weigh up a whole range of factors.

Mr Berry: I am disappointed that she is not worried about the tortoises. I am still concerned about the tortoises, and I reckon you should get an answer before the end of this debate.

MR HUMPHRIES: I will look after your tortoises, Mr Berry, in just a moment, when I have finished my remarks. I will address the tortoises if you would like to be patient.

One of those factors which the Government, and any government, has to weigh up is the disruption to the hospice. As I said, we will assume that Ms Horodny was not aware of this when she put her motion forward; but if she continues to think of this motion as a good idea, when she does have full knowledge of the unnecessary disruption she is adding to the lives of hospice patients, I would have to say that I have much less respect for her concept of what it is reasonable for the Territory to do.

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