Page 697 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 8 March 2005
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Let me say, however, that secondments by officers of the ACT public service to the commonwealth are not unusual or unique. A number of secondments of senior officers were undertaken during the last Liberal term of the Assembly. I think there were three or four secondments, including, of course, the chief executive of the Canberra Hospital, as well as two other very senior executives of the ACT service, that were arranged by the previous Liberal government of senior officers, to enhance, of course, the operations of both the ACT service and the receiving office. Indeed, the arrangements that were made for the secondment of Mr Tonkin really simply mirror those arrangements that the previous Liberal government made in relation to the two or three senior officers of the then administration.
One of the differences is, of course that this government, when then in opposition, did not engage in the individual character assassination or the unbridled attack on the public service which has become a hallmark of this Liberal opposition. There is one thing that can be said to every single public official, not just within the ACT public sector but indeed within the commonwealth sector within the ACT—in that regard we are talking about 50 per cent of the work force: this branch of the Liberal Party, this Liberal opposition, will not support you, will not protect you, will not stand by you. This is the message that every public servant in the ACT needs to understand: do not expect this Liberal Party, do not expect this opposition, to ever support you. If you are a public servant in the ACT, have a look at the behaviour of this opposition. Have a look at the behaviour of this branch of the Liberal Party in relation to you and your rights and your standing and your position—even to the point of the major criticism launched by the shadow Treasurer just yesterday, that the issues facing the ACT government in relation to the coming budget are all down to the fact that you got a pay rise. That is what the Liberal Party—
Mr Hargreaves: Shock, horror!
MR STANHOPE: Shock, horror! That is a decision that the Liberal Party would not have taken. If they had been in government, they would not have supported a pay rise for you. That is what the shadow Treasurer said yesterday.
Mr Smyth: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I did not ask about pay rises. I asked about the secondment of Mr Tonkin and perhaps the Chief Minister—
MR SPEAKER: Stick to the subject matter of the question, Chief Minister.
MR STANHOPE: I just want to conclude that point, Mr Speaker. I think it is relevant to the point I was asked that this government will support public servants. We will show them due respect. We will stand by them and we will support them. We will not do what Mr Mulcahy did yesterday. We will not stand up in this place–
Mr Smyth: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR STANHOPE: and say that the ills that the ACT government might face are a result of a pay rise for public servants.
Mr Smyth: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
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