Page 2292 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 August 2006
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MR SMYTH: Mr Gentleman’s dissenting report is not a dissenting report. It might be inaccurate, lunacy, mismanagement, or a number of other things, but it is not a dissenting report. Dissent should be based on fact, and all the facts Mr Gentleman supposedly put forward can be quite easily debunked, as I have just shown on three out of eight occasions, by reading the Hansard, getting the data, reading it and understanding it. Paragraph 2.1 of Mr Gentleman’s dissenting report states:
Mr Gentleman worked hard to address some of the unfair comments.
Instead of addressing unfair comments Mr Gentleman should have taken the time to tell the truth and get the facts.
MR SPEAKER: Order! I ask the member to withdraw that statement.
MR SMYTH: I withdraw, Mr Speaker. Mr Gentleman should have made sure that what he put in his report was accurate. On three occasions there are clear examples of Mr Gentleman stating that I misled the people I was questioning. Gee whiz, a member of the opposition asked tricky questions to try to get to the bottom of a budget that has been tabled—a budget that is full of holes, errors and discrepancies.
Mr Gentleman: Selective quotation does not work.
MR SMYTH: I am told that I am quoting selectively. A member of the opposition asked a question seeking information. Shame on him for trying to get to the bottom of the budget! I got to the bottom of Mr Gentleman’s attitude. He referred earlier to a movie entitled 36 Ways to Get Fired Thanks to John Howard. Perhaps there is a 37th reason—abusing a colleague in a deliberative session of the Select Committee on Estimates.
Eco-tourism
MS PORTER (Ginninderra) (6.19): Earlier today we were talking about eco-tourism. I refer members to the web site www.planeta.com, a global journal on practical eco-tourism. Tour operator Ronda Green raised concerns that were raised earlier when we were talking about eco-tourism. She asked whether it gave people a satisfying wildlife experience and whether it endangered wildlife and their habitats. She said that if it did she would not be in eco-tourism. She stated that eco-tourism had many positive effects on wildlife conservation, such as monetary and other contributions to conservation and research by tourists and tour operators, economic arguments for preserving wilderness, and an opportunity to promote an enhanced appreciation of fauna and flora and support for their conservation. Ronda said that there are problems that we cannot ignore. The web site refers to the 10 commandments on eco-tourism, which are as follows:
1. Respect the frailty of the Earth.
2. Leave only footprints. Take only pictures.
3. To make your travels more meaningful, educate yourself about the geography, customs, manners, and cultures of the region you visit.
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