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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 2 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 512 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

They promised to implement the safe injecting room. Now we must wait and review the outcomes in Sydney. They also promised to move the ACTTAB HQ to Gungahlin, but find they cannot do that, as they were told. So perhaps we should be a little less pious about promises.

Mr Corbell wanted to be compared to Whitlam. Perhaps he is like somebody else with core promises and non-core promises. I wonder how many more non-core promises we will see emerge.

Question put:

That Ms Tucker's amendment be agreed to.

The Assembly voted-

Ayes, 1

Noes, 14

Ms Tucker

Mr Berry

Mr Humphries

Mr Corbell

Ms MacDonald

Mrs Cross

Mr Pratt

Ms Dundas

Mr Quinlan

Mrs Dunne

Mr Smyth

Ms Gallagher

Mr Stefaniak

Mr Hargreaves

Mr Wood

Question so resolved in the negative.

Amendment negatived.

MR PRATT (5.12): Mr Speaker, talking about scare tactics is arrant nonsense. I criticise Mr Corbell and Ms Dundas for raising those implications. Ms Dundas questioned whether there was evidence about the AIS' concern. I would ask her to have a look at the report, then to speak to the AIS and ask them what they think. I would ask Ms Dundas if she would make a commitment as to whether, if she is convinced by the AIS as to the perils of the western route option, she would change her view and come back and talk to us.

Mr Corbell talks about evidence that the election was won partly on a decision to go with the western route. There is no evidence to support that. The point is that, while the selection of a western route may have been a winner for a small community, in macro terms, it is going to be a loser for the ACT.

When a government goes to an election, it must have a balanced program that takes into account all aspects of what is good for the ACT, not what might be good for the suburb of O'Connor. Ms Tucker talked about some athletes. Yes, I know about those athletes who demonstrated about a western route option. However, if that was the case, and most athletes objected to a western route option, I would have thought the AIS would have informed us accordingly. I think, on balance, athletes would see the perils of a western route option and, in the main, would not agree with that.

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