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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 8 Hansard (25 August) . . Page.. 2458 ..

MS CARNELL: Yes, Mr Berry, it is. I believe that everyone in this place has come to his or her own position on this important issue and done so after much soul-searching. Mr Speaker, as a health professional, I have had a long involvement in this area with many people who have had to have terminations over the years. The position that I have come to is one that I believe in strongly. We will have debates on this issue in the future. Mr Speaker, I think it is important that all of us respect each other's views. Mr Quinlan has taken a position which is simply unacceptable.

I fully accept that on just about every issue we can play the man and not the ball, but not on issues of conscience. Mr Quinlan may have forgotten to tell his readers that Mr Osborne actually did not support the ACTEW issue; so, any thought of deals being done is simply ridiculous. I would never and I know that Mr Moore would never do a deal on an issue that we both take extremely seriously. Mr Speaker, we are now in our eleventh year of self-government; we have had our tenth anniversary. It is important that this Assembly become more mature and start accepting that there are certain issues on which you simply do not have personal goes.

Mr Berry: Why not?

MS CARNELL: Mr Berry says, "Why not?". It is because everyone in this place - Mr Berry included - has a right to his or her position on these sorts of issues. I do, as does Mr Moore. The sort of approach that Mr Quinlan has taken is simply unacceptable and it is about time, I have to say, that those opposite grew up.

MR QUINLAN (6.54): I have a nice compendium of press releases put out by the Chief Minister's office which I am prepared to send around to add a little balance to that issue, but I have actually risen on another matter, that is, to note the passing of John W. Slater, a former chief engineer of the ACT Electricity Authority and a former deputy chief executive. A highly professional engineer, he was one of many who worked to build the ACT electricity supply system to such a standard that it is now besieged by a few slavering carpetbaggers. He was involved in the installation of the 132 Kb subtransmission system when it was leading edge technology. Make no mistake, the legacy of a sound ACTEW today was not created overnight. It was men like John Slater who built the foundation.

There is a recently published history of ACTEW and inevitably, I guess, it has become a history as the current generation of people within ACTEW would like it to be remembered. I immediately add that it treats me reasonably kindly. But people like Mr Slater and many other genuine contributors have taken somewhat of a back seat to more recent participants. But enough of that. John Slater was always a positive man and deserves to be remembered as a positive and genuine contributor to the whole of the ACT as it is today.

MR HIRD (6.56): Mr Speaker, I join my colleague Mr Quinlan in his remarks.

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