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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (16 February) . . Page.. 162 ..
MR STANHOPE (continuing):
is, that Liberal Party solidarity is more important than the future of Canberra, that it is more important not to condemn the Prime Minister in his hour of greatest need, as he is on the rack, than to protect the future of Canberra.
Mr Kaine: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I draw the Assembly's attention to the fact that I am not a Liberal.
MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order, Mr Kaine, but I take the point.
MR STANHOPE: I had come to that conclusion, Mr Kaine, but today you are sorely testing the conclusion I had come to in relation to that. I do wonder about those leopards. I commend my motion to the Assembly, Mr Speaker. I think the suggestion that it be watered down, that the Government and some others feel that it is not necessary to condemn the Prime Minister for a decision that is costing this community an enormous amount in terms of dollars, reputation, standing and future capacity to attract business really does beg the question how much this Government does care for Canberra.
MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety) (11.58): Mr Speaker, I want to comment briefly. In light of this debate, I think that Mr Kaine's amendment is to be preferred. This Government has made quite clear that it is prepared to take its Federal colleagues to task in all sorts of ways, including publicly in the newspapers, on television and on radio, where that is necessary to stand up for the people who have elected us to our present positions, the people of Canberra. It has troubled me greatly that this opportunity to try to unite the community in expressing concern about the CHOGM decision has been used by the Opposition essentially as a petty point-scoring exercise. It is important to remember that Mr Howard is not the only culprit, to use the Labor Party's lexicon, in this matter. It takes two to tango. Let us not forget that Mr Beattie, the Labor Premier of Queensland, also had to cooperate in making this transition possible.
Ms Carnell: He made some horrible comments.
MR HUMPHRIES: In fact, as the Chief Minister points out, Mr Beattie made some horrible comments. Let me quote some of those horrible comments by the Labor Premier of Queensland, the Hon. Peter Beattie:
It is crucial that the heads of government and the media leave the country after CHOGM with positive reactions about Australia and the way in which the meeting was organised.
There was a risk that by holding the meeting in Canberra that world opinion leaders could have been left with a negative reaction.
What negative reaction does the Premier of Queensland think people would have by having a meeting in Canberra? My colleagues opposite have fallen strangely silent in suggesting some reason for that. It is very easy to attribute motives to the Prime Minister and describe in all sorts of unpleasant ways what they think about the Prime Minister's view and how much contempt he has for Canberra. I wonder what words they
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