Page 3959 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 5 December 2007
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imagined—a position or a situation under the Liberal Party, under Brendan Smyth and Bill Stefaniak, of the lowest level of per capita support for mental health in Australia—
MR SPEAKER: Order! You should come back to buses.
MR STANHOPE: I just say, in terms of illustrating the difference between the Liberal Party, and its commitment to the people of Canberra, and the Labor Party, it is another interesting example. We have another example here of from the lowest to the highest. From under the Liberal Party in government we see—and we have just had it illustrated a moment ago by the Minister for Health in relation to disability services—the enormous injection of funding into disability services that has been a feature of our government post Gallop, post the royal commission of inquiry by Justice Gallop into the disastrous situation that we inherited from the Liberals.
I fully support John Hargreaves as minister for transport, particularly in relation to his absolute commitment to the safety of the travelling public, which has led John Hargreaves, as minister for transport, to overcome years of neglect by the Liberal Party, reflected in the fact that under the Liberal Party there were no CCTV cameras at all within the bus fleet, an extensive fleet, to a situation in which the minister has assured a CCTV camera for every bus in the ACTION fleet. What a remarkable difference, what a disparity—from none to total coverage—and it is down to John Hargreaves; it is down to the minister. We went from a situation of nil coverage under the Liberal Party to a situation of complete coverage under John Hargreaves. He can take a bow for what he has achieved in ensuring the safety of the travelling public of Canberra—and your record is an absolute disgrace! I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for the question.
Ministerial performance
MR MULCAHY: My question is to the Chief Minister. At a public rally and protest at the closure of the Griffith library in November of last year, your Minister for Territory and Municipal Services rejected the need for consultation, saying effectively, “I do not need to consult. I know what the answer is going to be.” This was despite significant community unrest at the unpopular decision to close the library. Similarly, the minister arbitrarily authorised the highly unpopular decision to spend $75,000 on the Grassby statue, another decision that was widely derided by the Canberra community. Chief Minister, how do you explain your government’s unwillingness to consult with the Canberra community, demonstrated through Minister Hargreaves’s actions?
MR STANHOPE: I thank the member for the question. As so much of the theme of questions today has shown such a remarkable lack of self-awareness, I refer the member to Mr Pratt’s interview on radio 666 this morning:
There is no need for the government to consult the community because the locals have made their views clear.
Thank you, Mr Mulchay. I think that answers the question.
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