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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 5104 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

Canberra. Members' comments fell into two parts. First, the comments from the Opposition were a struggle for relevance. Second, the crossbench seemed to address the global and big picture. The motion does not congratulate the government; it notes an area of policy need-services in the suburbs.

I am pleased to have spent some time on private members day talking about suburban Canberra. It makes a pleasant change from the usual array of redneck rubbish that we get from the opposition. Mr Cornwell wants to lock up everyone under 18-tough on fun, tough on the causes of fun. That's what the people who speak to me say about Mr Cornwell. On the other hand, Mr Stefaniak just wants to lock everybody up and chuck away the key. As for Mrs Burke, there's truth in every cliche. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and if you can't beat them, join them, but always remember that laughter is the best medicine. I thank Mrs Burke for the laughter that I enjoyed while she was speaking.

Mr Cornwell seems besotted with graffiti and social issues, such as preventing all of our citizens from suffering discrimination. Graffiti is a scourge worldwide and it's a challenge for all of us. I acknowledge this is a significant problem and one that we struggle with. Mrs Dunne congratulated the government for doing important things in the community but claimed that they were started by the Liberals. If this was so, why were they flogged at the ballot box? She says that the items I listed were core business. I agree. The previous government missed this point. They were very poor at core business because they were focused on big picture items-and weren't they successful ones for the Canberra community? How about the gross overspending on the then Bruce Stadium or the shonky land deal at Kinlyside? They didn't know the difference between a lease and a block. How about the Futsal slab debacle? How about the expensive self-entertaining V8 car race? How about the Fujitsu deal, which cost us many thousands of dollars? Mr Pratt rattled off a list of streets in Brindabella suffering from long grass or burnouts.

Mr Pratt: Now, yes.

MR HARGREAVES: Yes. Mr Pratt relocated Jackie Howe Crescent from Macarthur to Gilmore, showing that if you don't live in the electorate, you run the risk of not knowing your electorate. What a shameful display of ignorance that was. For Mr Pratt's information, the police take burnouts very seriously and every time-

Mr Pratt: It's in Macarthur, John.

MR HARGREAVES: I'm glad Mr Pratt tells me that Jackie Howe Crescent is in Macarthur. That means Mr Pratt was listening to my interjection when I told him it was. For Mr Pratt's information, the police take burnouts very seriously and every time I have asked for assistance in this regard action has ensued. Perhaps he should share his information with the police, but he should at least get the suburbs right when he does it. Mr Pratt is into scaremongering. He talks about "youth gangs in Red Hill". It is frightening stuff. Again, if he has information about gangs-"gangs", plural-in any suburb, he should be talking to the police, not scaring the public through the privileges of this place. I note where his priorities lay through his insightful statement, "Rubbish doesn't do a damn for property values."Unsightly yards are a problem in society but I wonder whether his real agenda is not about community but about making money.

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