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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 01 Hansard (Tuesday, 10 February 2004) . . Page.. 77 ..

assuming that we will hear a lot more of Mrs Burke, because I understand that we all do have a mandated responsibility, as politicians, to report what we know. She, obviously, knows of particular cases and I would expect that they would be reported to the police with particulars.

Mrs Burke: They have already done so. They are already going through the system that is failing them.

MR QUINLAN: I would certainly hope that the level of report that is made and the gravity of the claims that you have reported to the police do, in fact, match what has been said on that radio program. Talking about responsibility, we have here an unfortunate incident that has not at this stage, as I understand it, in any way exacerbated the problems of an individual child; it is just a case of non-reporting, there has been non-compliance.

Mr Cornwell: We don’t know that yet, Mr Quinlan.

MR QUINLAN: No, we don’t, and we ought to follow that through and make sure of the facts. I expect Mrs Burke to be now a star witness in that. It is important, I think, for this place to keep a perspective. We are now dealing on the edges of very serious issues. As I said, I accept that politics will be played; I agree with Mr Smyth. I think I can say that I have not been one to play them to the extent of others in the joint, but I expect that. But let’s actually maintain a perspective and make sure that we keep a grip on ourselves in terms of what is said in relation to it because there may be a greater fallout from that than the incident itself, which is being addressed. The incident relates to a problem that has existed for some time. It predates this government. It certainly predates Ms Gallagher’s elevation to the ministry. Nevertheless, because it is politics, you pick the target.

You have given it your best shot. The problem existed before this government took office. You are involved, we are involved and the administration is involved. Let’s now take a sensible, rational, positive approach to redressing the problem. Let’s keep it factual. Let’s make sure that we do adhere to our responsibilities and remember what is the end objective.

MRS BURKE (4.55): I do not need to cover a whole lot of the ground, and we have certainly veered of track. Ministerial responsibility in the ACT is a very important matter to me. We have been entrusted with a position of trust in this place and the public deserve and expect a high level of accountability.

I think that it behoves us all to sit up and take note. There has been some good input to the debate from Ms Dundas. Ministerial responsibility is about relationships with departments, with staffers and with others, and we need to look at our roles more closer than ever before. Why are we here, who are we responsible to and where does the buck ultimately stop?

It is not about ducking for cover behind people; it is about us facing up to our ministerial responsibilities. As we are entrusted with running this city, we should not treat the community out there with contempt. We should show and lead the way in our conduct in this place.

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