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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 12 Hansard (12 November) . . Page.. 3423 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

I hope that it is within the sense of Standard and Poors that we can actually talk this through, come to some mutual understanding and ensure that the ACT protects its AAA rating for what it actually serves as rather than as a report card.

Achievements of government

MR HARGREAVES: My question is to the Chief Minister. Today is the first anniversary of the election by the Assembly of the Chief Minister, and a fabulous year it was too! Can the Chief Minister tell the Assembly on this auspicious day what his government has achieved for the people of Canberra in the first 12 months?

Mr Cornwell: No wonder you're on crutches!

MR HARGREAVES: I don't need them for my mouth, Mr Cornwell.

MR STANHOPE: Thank you very much, Mr Hargreaves. It certainly is an auspicious day, a day that marks the transition for the territory to a Labor government after seven years of waste, mismanagement, gloss and glitz and no substance, hoopla and stunts and wearing funny hats. And we see the funny hats return today. What a sense of deja vu we had seeing the Leader of the Opposition out in his funny hat today. It really took us back.

It is worth reflecting on the promises that were made before the election just over 12 months ago. What I promised in that campaign was a government committed to openness, honesty and inclusiveness. In place of the waste and mismanagement and fiasco, I promised well-thought-out programs drawn from policies developed in broad consultation with the community, programs designed to achieve two aims, which were closely related.

The first was to take forward our vision of Canberra as a strong, confident and prosperous community, asserting its place in the country, and in doing that take a great step towards achieving our second aim-namely, to help Canberrans realise their aspirations. That is what we promised 12 months ago, and it is worth reflecting on what we achieved. What have we achieved in our first year?

We achieved record funding for education. We turned the $27 million free bus scheme, that electoral bribe, into deliverables. We turned it into educational outputs and outcomes-$27 million more invested in education in the ACT. We achieved it straight out, and what a magnificent achievement that is for the people of Canberra, an achievement that goes directly to the aspirations and hopes this community has for its most valuable asset, its children-an asset that we are prepared to nurture and invest in.

We provided record funding for health to undo the damage that was done by seven years of Liberal government, seven years of missed opportunity, seven years of missed recognition of the vital priorities in health. What do we arrive at at the end of the day? What did we inherit?

The Gallop report sums up seven years of Liberal mismanagement and seven years of refusing to acknowledge what the priorities of this community are. That is what we inherited. It was there within a month of our arriving in office in the Gallop report,

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