Page 869 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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Here is the Chief Minister’s speech. It is headed “Jon Stanhope—Leader of the Opposition”, “Labor Leader’s Breakfast”. Here are the principles. There we go: “I am going to insist on fairness, integrity, openness, honesty, compassion, responsibility.” “I will take responsibility.”
Responsibility, accountability and leadership! Where does this Chief Minister get off? The reports are an important source of information in holding the government accountable. The Chief Minister said that the information on capital works is available elsewhere. Of course, that is arrant nonsense, unless you get the quarterly report and you sit up in the Chief Minister’s office. Most of the information is aggregated, particularly for ongoing projects. The Chief Minister said, “Go to the annual reports.” Of course, annual reports are 12 months apart; and while they list most projects, there is little detail on the rates of spend and other outcomes. Chief Minister, your attempt to justify the withholding of this information does not stand up to scrutiny.
The Chief Minister wondered what questioning we had undertaken about the progress on capital works projects. In answer to his question, I will just mention what I have done. In May 2006 I did this. Remember that the last capital works report was tabled on 14 February 2006—not in 2005 as the Chief Minister said; he got that wrong. He said that nobody had asked questions. In May 2006 I put a question on notice about all the reporting. What did the Treasurer, Mr Stanhope, tell me in his June 2006 reply? He said, “Treasury also supplies capital works progress reports on a quarterly basis.” There is your first question, Chief Minister. What a surprise, given what the Chief Minister told us yesterday!
Then the Chief Minister said, “You can go to estimates; it’s a great time to ask questions and hold the government accountable.” During the estimates hearings last year, on 19 June, I asked the ESA a number of questions about capital works projects. I think you were there, Mr Deputy Speaker Pratt. I asked JACS questions on 20 June; I think you were also there, Mr Deputy Speaker. I asked questions of territory and municipal services on 21 and 23 June, education on 28 June, community services on 29 June and health on 30 June.
More recently I put questions to the Minister for Health. How did we find out about the progress of some of the health projects? We had to read about it in the Canberra Times. The minister was dragged kicking and screaming to answer questions because we do not have the quarterly reports. What did we find out? We found out that the flagship new capital works project for health for 2006, the linear accelerator project, has been delayed.
Surely an honest, open, fair, compassionate, responsible government with leadership from the Chief Minister would have told the public, “Hey, guys, the accelerator has been delayed. Look, we are sorry about it.” Oh, no. You have to ask; you have to probe; you have to put three or four questions; you have to keep coming back to it. The honesty, the openness and the accountability from the Stanhope Labor government have gone out the door. They are worth about as much as the code of ministerial conduct. You have to drag information out of this government.
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