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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3512 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

warn this minister that, if he persisted in his arrogance, he would have to face the consequences in this place.

The minister was put on notice that, if he came back into this place and said, as he did today, "No, I have not done anything, and I do not intend to", he would risk facing the censure of this place. He had a months warning. He had a clear motion from this Assembly that required him to do certain things. He has arrogantly said, "I will not do it."As Mr Smyth said, it would not have been hard for him to negotiate with the people who own that block of land, but he did not even try.

We have seen the wonderful negotiating skills of Simon Corbell-it is all, "Take it or leave it."Yet he did not even bring those to bear. The classic Bruce Willis comes out- shoots you between the eyes and says, "Who else wants to negotiate?"That is how Simon Corbell negotiates. Yet he could not bring those great skills to bear over a simple block of land and the possibility of a land swap. He would not do it. He stood in here with his hand in his pocket, as he always does, with his pose of the young, arrogant minister and said, "I will not do it."

We have here, as my colleagues Mr Smyth and Mr Stefaniak have said, a complete turning away from everything we stand for as a Westminster parliament. There is a division between the parliament and the executive but, from time to time, the parliament has the capacity to-if it exercises its will it may do so-direct a minister to do a particular thing.

It is not palatable, I am sure, for ministers to be told they must take specific courses of action, but that is the reality of politics-it is the reality of the Westminster system. This arrogant young minister has been caught out. He was warned-he was given ample warning. He has been caught out here today, thinking he can get away with just saying, "No-yah, boo and sucks!"That is what he usually says. The pathetic defence of the Chief Minister, who came in here and tried to derail this debate by saying that this motion was out of order because we were trying to appropriate money, is absolutely risible.

Mr Corbell: Risible?

MRS DUNNE: Yes, it is risible-it is pathetic. You have one or two courses of action. You could justify your unjustifiable position-or this government and this minister could sit back and take the medicine.

On 27 August, this house asked the minister to do a simple thing-to negotiate, with a view to saving the trees. As Mr Smyth said, it was always on the cards that he may not succeed in those negotiations. He could then have come back here and perhaps sought further guidance from the Assembly and the people of the ACT, who have strong views about the future of the trees on Nettlefold Street.

As I said on that day, I am proud to represent the people of Belconnen who brought this issue to the Assembly. They were persistent with their arguments and persistent with their support for the issue. That caused us to rethink the issue. It caused us to look at the new evidence which had come forward. That block of land was sold under the previous government by my former boss.

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