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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (22 September) . . Page.. 2009 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

and not a good place to do business. Mr Speaker, the fact is that we now have private sector growth that is certainly beating that of a number of States; we have more jobs in the ACT than ever before; and we have a large number of companies that are choosing Canberra as a business destination - something that never happened under those opposite. Mr Speaker, we are certainly doing something right.

MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, at the weekend I noticed an article in the Canberra Times referring to claims made recently by the Opposition and Ms Tucker that the ACT Government had turned Canberra into a cultural wasteland by its lack of commitment to funding for the arts. Chief Minister, are these claims true, and can you provide to this parliament any evidence that demonstrates how this Government is supporting the cultural development of Canberra?

MS CARNELL: Thank you very much, Mr Hird. I really do appreciate that question. Mr Speaker, we have certainly - - -

Mr Corbell: Mr Hird is strongly interested in the Institute of the Arts.

MS CARNELL: There goes Mr Corbell already. Mr Speaker, we can all remember Mr Corbell standing up in this place - or sitting there, interjecting - on numerous occasions, constantly accusing me, I think he would say, of, shall we say, governing by photo opportunity. I think they have been his words.

Mr Berry: Spot-on.

MS CARNELL: There you are, Mr Speaker. Although it was somewhat amusing, I am sure we were all feeling very sorry for Mr Corbell when he was obviously kidnapped by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in the middle of the night recently and forced to stand up in front of the musicians with the baton in one hand. Do you know what happened? It was hard to believe, but television cameras and photographers turned up. It could not have been a photo opportunity!

Members interjected.

MR SPEAKER: Order, please! What was he conducting - Gotterdammerung, or something?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, what may have happened to poor Mr Corbell is he may have been tortured by the arts revolutionaries and made to stand up there in front of those cameras, because Mr Corbell would never, ever stoop to a photo opportunity.

Mr Corbell: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. What has this to do with the question? I think the Chief Minister is jealous. The point is that they know which way I voted on the Institute of the Arts cuts, which was unlike the way those opposite voted.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order, Mr Corbell.

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