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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1361 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

The Liberal Party at least had one small answer to the problems faced by small retailers in this town but has made only a half-hearted effort to implement it. The Labor Party offers no answers, except total deregulation of the market. What I would like to know is: Where to from here? (Extension of time granted) We now have no limits on retail space in the ACT and no limits on trading hours. Clearly, we can look forward to more small businesses closing down in the ACT, and both Labor and Liberal parties should hang their heads in shame.

MR MOORE (11.06): Mr Speaker, it is interesting to note that it was only after Ms Horodny actually had an extension of time granted that Ms Tucker finally turned up.

MR SPEAKER: Relevance, Mr Moore.

MR MOORE: Yes, absolutely; that is what I am getting to, Mr Speaker. She was embarrassed about the stance the Greens had taken and the tack that Ms Horodny had taken on this issue of the supermarkets. We ought to know what actually happened in this regard, Mr Speaker.

Mr Humphries: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: Mr Moore is harassing the Greens and should be told to desist.

Ms Tucker: Can I make a personal explanation?

MR SPEAKER: No; you can make it after Mr Moore finishes.

MR MOORE: When are you going to learn the standing orders, Ms Tucker? For heaven's sake!

One of the most interesting things, Mr Speaker, is that what actually happened here, of course, was this: There was never any intention at all on the part of the Government to close supermarkets; the idea was very simple. They would put up the legislation and then they would lose. It was quite clear what Mr Osborne's attitude was. I had made it very clear that there was no way I was going to support the supermarkets being closed at this hour. Then, surprise, out of left field come the Greens. They supported the Government on this legislation. It is the only time they ever chose to go with the Government and, of course, they picked a loser. The Government was left holding this hot ball in its hands and thinking, "What the heck are we going to do? The legislation actually got up. We are going to have to implement it". The embarrassment was extreme; the reaction from the community was great; and the Government's little ploy was, of course, turned around on them.

They then continued the process and said, "Oh, no; that is all right. We will go with it, but we will review it". The next mistake was that they said, "We will review it by mid-1998". Oops, that would have been after the election. This is flying by the seat of the pants. You might remember, Mr Speaker, that originally the responsibility for this was Mr De Domenico's, and that also became too hot for the Government. It did a quick flick pass to Gary Humphries because, the more Mr De Domenico tried to handle it,

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