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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1670 ..

MR PRATT (continuing):

government. Well, I do not celebrate that at all, and I do not see why the minister ought to be celebrating that bureaucratic approach. In the process of exercising that dogged bureaucratic approach, all negotiations ceased and the funding did not flow. Between $4 million to $6 million per year, regardless of whether it was only 80 or 90 per cent of what we thought we should have been entitled to, was money denied to our fire services during a time of high risk. So it is pathetic for the minister to say what he did, and it is ridiculous for Ms Tucker to make the same sort of claim.

I wish people around here would take a longer and a more visionary view, do a bit of risk analysis and make decisions which are in the interests of the ACT community rather than fighting political battles. Ms Tucker is more concerned about a federal government that she does not like. Therefore, it is a matter of "Let's have a fight with them. Let's not worry about what is best for and what is in the best interest of the ACT community."

Mr Wood claims that I have abrogated my MLA's mantle in taking on this debate and that I am, I suppose, some sort of running dog for the feds. Well, that is a ridiculous and a childish claim, Minister. I am the shadow emergency minister and it is my job to hold the government accountable for its fire fighting capability and security capability in a climate of heavy fire and internal security risks. That is my job and I make no apologies for tackling you guys over prevaricating on providing the services and acquiring all the resources that you ought to be acquiring to make our services that much more capable.

I will continue to push you people to make sure that you go out and get all the assets which are available, including, by the way, long-term agreements with other jurisdictions whom we might be able to call upon to provide fire units in the case of call out and the declaration of emergency. That is what you have got to do, that is what the community expects, and that is what we will push. So do not give me this rubbish that I am running a brief for the blokes on the hill. It is my job as emergency services shadow to analyse where we stand.

I would prefer to simply encourage and work with you on making our services better. I am quite prepared to work with you on negotiating with the feds to get the deal that we are fully entitled to. But, in the first instance, I believe and the opposition believes that the funding has got to flow. The funding has not flowed for two years. Let us get the funding flowing and then let us go and work together to negotiate where we can finetune to get a better deal overall.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will continue to encourage the government to get on with this. I ask the government to expedite this issue. I ask that the government do its best to get all the funding they can possibly get from whatever nook and cranny around this land to make our fire services that much more capable. They deserve it. I am sure the minister wants to make our units more capable. I just ask that we put aside these bureaucratic brawls and expedite the matter.

Question put:

That Mr Pratt's motion be agreed to.

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