Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .
Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (25 March) . . Page.. 874 ..
MR BERRY (continuing):
term the economy, in our view, would have fared poorly. Mrs Carnell mentioned earlier that she was attaching herself as a drinker from the chalice of optimism. We have seen that, and we need a little bit more than optimism to drag the ACT forward.
Let us not forget the Hall/Kinlyside debacle. What sort of message does that send to the rest of the community about the affairs of government? How serious and how capable is this Government of putting together a major event? We have had in recent days much upset about Bruce Stadium.
Mr Hird: You have egg on your face over that one.
MR BERRY: We have the leadership of the Raiders calling for the sacking of the people who run the show. I think it was the Government that got egg on its face, Mr Hird. Of course, lots of taxpayers' funds have been poured into that. We will not know the full cost of it for years to come, but my guess is that it is running at about $40m now and could rise higher after the Olympic events because of the mismanagement of the economy in the ACT. Yes, we do need major events in the ACT to prop up the profligate expenditure of a government hell-bent on stunts. In a major Melbourne newspaper Mrs Carnell was described as Madam Stunt. That is a regrettable description of a Chief Minister to spread around the country. At the end of the day that impacts on our ability properly to market major events, because the place begins to be seen as a circus.
We all know that the Feel the Power campaign was badly received. We all know that the Woodies event was seen as part of the ongoing circus. We all know that the ACTEW sale was wrong and bad for the economy and bad for the community. But we have other things to look at, too. The mismanagement of the Floriade fee sent a bad message to people who might wish to visit Floriade. Interstate visitors were put off by the way that was managed. I hope some lessons have been learnt from that event. On the social side, and you cannot look at an economy without looking at the social side, many people interstate will have seen the publicity around the debacle over the funding for the School of Music, the debacle over Ainslie Primary School, the Downer Preschool saga, the problems of youth centres, and the insurance levy. Those sorts of things send an image about the ACT that is not helpful in the scheme of presenting the Territory as a forward-looking place to have fun.
Yes, we all support the motherhood statement which Mr Hird has brought to this place, but you have to look further than just the statement. You have to look at the Government's performance on a whole range of issues. Mr Speaker, if you have a look - - -
Mr Hird: Two hundred and twenty-two million dollars.
MR BERRY
: It is not your money to play with. And every dollar of it is necessary to prop up the bad ideas of the Government and the mismanagement of the economy. Mr Speaker, we cannot forget all those symbols of government in the ACT when we think about the need to promote the ACT and major events in the Territory. We cannot forget the aeroplane that was painted with that hated slogan. We cannot forget the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .