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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1781 ..
Ms Tucker invited the editor of Gunsmoke to her office to ask why the Gungahlin Community Council was now fighting so hard to support the road. This could be construed as political interference of a similar kind to that which Ms Tucker and Mr Corbell are directing at Mr Smyth.
The Community Council had hoped that due process would have been followed by members of the ACT Legislative Assembly to assess the most suitable route in view of the extensive studies already taken. This is still our hope, however, the campaign by conservation groups has caused us to be more assertive in order to ensure that a clear transport corridor is preserved for present and future needs.
It was the combination of these pressures, which compelled the Community Council to enter the debate and choose a route to support.
This is exactly the kind of political hijacking the Council, the residents and businesses of Gungahlin are heartily sick of. We call on all members of the ACT Legislative Assembly to stop wasting time and money and get on with building the road.
The Community Council is asking elected members why Mr Brendan Smyth seems to be the only politician who is concerned with the true interests of the Gungahlin residents?
That is signed by David Gower, President of the Gungahlin Community Council, Mr Speaker. I table that document.
Furthermore, the secretary of the community council wrote to me about her views of what I have said after I had spoken to her about her recollection. I asked her to put her views in writing. I would now like to read the letter from the Reverend Roma Hosking and I will then table it. It says:
Dear Brendan,
I wish to assure you that I am disappointed that members of the opposition have chosen to take out of context remarks made by you at the April meeting of the Gungahlin Community Council in response to my question concerning the need for Gungahlin residents to write letters to the Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Services in order to make our views known about the need for the extension of Gungahlin Drive (formerly known as the John Dedman Parkway).
As you and I both know you were the invited guest and at the above meeting and the subject of roads was chosen prior to the meeting on our initiative, not yours, so those who are accusing you of manipulating or blackmailing the community are doing so under false pretences. It is true that the Community Council Executive did "not tell people which route to choose" but encouraged them to write their own letters. David Gower did write a sample letter which folks could copy if they chose and some folks may have done this. I also wrote a letter which was available to people as an example of the kind of clarity which I believed would be helpful.
Please note that several members of the executive of the Community Council attended the Maunsell workshops in 1996 and at those workshops we made it
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