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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (12 November) . . Page.. 4028 ..

MRS LITTLEWOOD (3.27): Given the display in question time, I think what the matter of public importance says is very well demonstrated. Since February I have sat in this chamber and, regrettably, during that time I do not believe I have heard a positive thing from the other side; nor have I read anything positive from them in the newspaper. "Berry attacks Carnell over Bruce Stadium development", "Berry calls for probe into new private hospital", " `Feel The Power' a second-hand slogan", "Assembly to examine private hospital", "Carnell's secret deal may leave taxpayers with the Bill" and "Everyone wants Olympic soccer but at what price?" have been just some of the headlines.

All I have heard is negative comments and whingeing - no initiatives, no ideas, no vision, not even constructive criticism; just a continuous whinge. Maybe I should have expected nothing else, given the comments made by Ms McRae on 27 August 1997 and quoted by Mrs Carnell, namely:

We have this fairytale notion that somehow the Opposition is here to create ideas, to do things for the good of the Territory. It is an absolute fairytale notion that is held by people who do not understand the Westminster system.

That is rather negative stuff, Mr Speaker. If those are the assumptions that the Labor Opposition, the alternative government, are coming from, then heaven help the people of Canberra. I again quote Ms McRae:

... this fairytale notion that somehow the Opposition is here to create ideas ...

Create ideas! The Labor Opposition, the supposed alternative government, would not know an idea if it bit them on the leg. Let us look at the record. Let us look at the lack of leadership, vision and ideas and the negative whingeing from my colleagues opposite. Did the Opposition offer any alternative to this year's budget? No; just more negativity and more whinges. Talk about whingeing Wendy! We have a ready-made whingeing Wayne. I go on to Olympic soccer. Did this alternative government say, "What a great positive for Canberra!"? No. Mr Whitecross raised the scare that the ACT would be faced with a bill of $42m.

Mr Humphries: It was $422m.

MRS LITTLEWOOD: Was it? Heaven only knows how he arrived at that figure, but I suspect it has a touch of the old overtime model about it. There was not one word about the positives. I quote from a letter that went to the Canberra Times from a member of the community, Mr Lee. Mr Lee wrote:

We all know cheap shots are easy. Constructive criticism is so much harder. In today's economic climate, often their sport is one of the few positive factors in the life of many of our young. Yet again, we see one of our community "leaders" pouring cold water onto every significant aspect of Canberra's immediate future.

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