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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 09 Hansard (Wednesday, 18 August 2004) . . Page.. 3891 ..

We may find that because of a failure to provide for water security earlier we do not have the water to save them, even if we can develop the techniques and remove the obstacles. In that case, we may have to erect another plaque in memory of Jon Stanhope similar to the one in St Paul’s Cathedral erected to Christopher Wren and which says, “Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice” or, for the less educated amongst us, “Reader, if you seek his memorial, look around you.”

Mr Steve Pratt—record
ACT honour walk

MR STEFANIAK (5.25): Yesterday I was a little concerned to hear a couple of comments directed at my colleague Mr Pratt, firstly from the Chief Minister who said, in what was becoming a heated debate on the adjournment, that Mr Pratt dobbed on his mates to secure his release. I think that is an extremely inappropriate comment. Mr Pratt suffered immensely at the hands of Slobodan Milosevic. He went through a number of mock dummy executions.

Mr Stanhope: Not as much as Hicks is suffering in Cuba.

MR STEFANIAK: You are showing your ignorance, Chief Minister. You probably do not know. Maybe you should talk to Mr Pratt, as I have, about his experiences there. He still suffers from a bad back. He was beaten.

Mr Stanhope: How do you think Hicks’s back is going?

MR STEFANIAK: I do not think the United States carries out mock executions on prisoners like the Yugoslavs did with Mr Pratt. So get your facts right. Listen and you might learn something. Mr Pratt also has a very distinguished record on behalf of his country as an infantry officer, and a dammed fine one, with the Australian Defence Forces He has served in various capacities there together with his work for Care Australia. So I think that was particularly inappropriate, as was Mr Hargreaves in lumping Mr Pratt in with Mr Hicks, which is probably like lumping Erwin Rommel in with Colonel Blobble of Einsatz Commando Group 4 in the Ukraine. So, I did not particularly appreciate that. We are talking about two very different sorts of situations. I would like the government to get its facts right.

I was concerned to read in the Canberra City News—on a more minor point in a way—an article about what will be a good initiative, the ACT honour walk, which I understand is going to be in Civic Square. The Chief Minister referred to a new ACT honour walk on London Circuit. He said the existing Canberra Legends Civic Honour Walk will be extended to create a more inclusive honour walk which will pay tribute to people who contribute to all areas of the community, not only sport. I do not have a problem with that.

He said it will contain plaques to commemorate the achievements of the Canberra Raiders—it already does—as well as the current Super 12 champions and the ACT Brumbies. I take offence, however, at the next comment—I will proceed on the basis that he did not know; if he did know I would be very concerned—that the previous government had promised the Brumbies a plaque but failed to deliver and that the

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