Page 791 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 1 May 2007
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short about 1,500 car parks. What is the government doing about that? We need 1,500 across the campuses to ensure that people can get a parking spot. What is the government doing? It did put some money aside for a 500-space car park. Where is that? How much money has been spent on that? Here is the problem. We are coming up to the next budget, the budget next month, and we have not seen any activity or any action on the current car park, no action whatsoever.
We are getting the cart put before the horse. We put in pay parking when there is inadequate parking and then we say we will build the new car park. That is the level of governance of the Stanhope Labor government. The way that they deliver capital works in this territory is appalling. (Time expired.)
Alexander Maconochie Centre
Death of Mr Pat Devlin
MR STEFANIAK (Ginninderra—Leader of the Opposition) (6.15): Speaking of governance, one of the classic examples of government waste, of course, is the prison, $128 million. It was interesting to see some statistics recently which showed that the number of full-time prisoners was actually down to about 100, which means that there is a very significant extra bed capacity. Apart from the $128 million, I saw some figures which indicate that it is going to cost $19 million to run, as opposed to the cost at present of sending prisoners to New South Wales of $8 million. That, clearly, is an instance not only of monumental waste and just wrong priorities at a time when the territory’s finances are strapped but also, effectively, of bad governance.
I note with sadness the untimely death of Mr Pat Devlin, a well-known Canberra chemist. Mr Devlin was instrumental in the introduction of some very good pieces of legislation in the early days of this Assembly. He had a chemist shop in Garema Place for some 32 years. I think he still went in there in his later years and worked a few days a week. I do not think that there were many people in Canberra who knew Canberra and Civic as well as Pat Devlin did. He was very much an institution.
I fondly recall the occasion I first met him. It was in the First Assembly and he was of great assistance in organising shopkeepers and other customers to put together petitions in relation to unruly behaviour around Garema Place. There were large problems then. The efforts of Pat Devlin helped bring into force in the ACT sensible measures such as the move-on powers and the banning of the drinking of alcohol in the Civic precinct outside of licensed premises and within 50 metres of bus stops and the like. I greatly appreciated his efforts in terms of those sensible pieces of legislation and the other assistance he gave in the way of providing some good ideas to improve Civic and improve the amenity for ordinary law-abiding citizens, customers and anyone else, who went through that area.
I send my condolences to Pat’s family. I think most of us here would have known Pat and virtually all of us would know his famous son, Geoff Devlin, of dragway fame. The family truly has contributed a hell of a lot to Canberra and Canberra has lost a very fine citizen in Pat Devlin. He was also very well known for his work with the pharmacy guild at both the territory level and nationally. We have lost a fine citizen and, on behalf of the opposition, I send my condolences to Pat’s family.
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