Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 2 Hansard (1 March) . . Page.. 477 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

national capital and a range of other decisions about the ACT have actually been fantastic boons for this territory? Are you going to do that at that stage?

No, I expect is the answer. There will be a sullen silence from Mr Quinlan come that time. He will be otherwise detained when people are arguing about the benefits of the federal government's contribution to economic growth in this territory, and his colleagues will be out there saying, "The federal government has ripped the guts out of Canberra, it has decimated Canberra and all these terrible things have happened because of the federal government." You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You had better run the same line today that you are running in the federal election, but something tells me that you will not be.

Road funding

MRS BURKE: My question is to the Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth, and it relates to roads and road safety. Is the minister aware of comments made in the media recently about road funding? Have these comments contributed to an accurate debate about road funding in the ACT?

Mr Corbell: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The question asks for an expression of opinion. Surely it is out of order.

MR SPEAKER: Yes, I think it may need to be rephrased, if you are going to put it in. It is a fair comment.

MR SMYTH: No, Mr Speaker, it is a question of fact: am I aware of comments, and of course I am; I am certainly aware of the comments, Mr Speaker.

Mr Corbell: On the point of order, Mr Speaker: it is asking for an expression of the minister's opinion not relating to areas of his portfolio responsibility.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, the question is, in part: is the minister aware of comments made in the media recently about road funding? There is no expression of opinion about that whatsoever.

MR SPEAKER: Is the minister aware; that is correct. You may address that part of it but do not express an opinion, because I uphold Mr Corbell's point of order.

MR SMYTH: There are no opinions. This is straight accounting; it is actually getting to the numbers. I am aware of comments about road funding recently, Mr Speaker, and the comments, quite frankly, are inaccurate, irresponsible and ultimately misleading-and they are Mr Quinlan's. Instead of sitting there and chortling, as they usually do, I would suggest that Mr Quinlan should hang his head in embarrassment because the alleged shadow treasurer-the potential future Treasurer and would-be Chief Minister-has really got his figures wrong this time, and he is so far off that I would suggest that even a first-year accounting student would be laughing at this little gaffe.

Mr Quinlan: He'd be ahead of you, mate. You're a nil-year accounting student.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .