Page 1143 - Week 03 - Thursday, 26 February 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
have agreed. There is a little bit of a “holier than thou” attitude in some of the criticisms made by Ms Hunter earlier in this debate.
I would like to finally note what we have seen this week from the planning minister. I have never sat in a briefing like this; I think the Greens would agree. I have never seen a briefing where the person leading the briefing—normally it is the public service, but in this case it was the minister—made a political speech. I could see the officials cringing as he made the political speech. The briefing pack we were provided with included press releases from the Greens, the Liberals and the minister. It was ridiculous; it was an embarrassment. The way he handled this whole process was quite embarrassing. It showed a real level of immaturity.
I think there could have been an agreement on Friday. I actually think there could have been agreement on Friday. But he did not want agreement. He played politics. He ended up looking quite silly. Mr Rattenbury made the comment last night that it was about his own political ambitions, and we saw a bit of that in question time today when Mr Barr refused to defend the Treasurer. There was critique of the Treasurer’s performance. Mr Barr got up and had the opportunity to defend her. It was in the question. He accepted the premise that she was not performing well. We know that is because he wants her job; his ambitions are becoming far clearer. But his performance as planning minister this week will give people no confidence that he is up to the job of becoming Treasurer.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, I have been absent minded. Your time has expired.
Death of Mr David Balfour
Death of Mr Leslie McIntyre Snr
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (5.49): I rise this evening in the adjournment debate to acknowledge the passing of two dedicated men from Canberra and Queanbeyan. This week I had the sad privilege to attend two funerals. Both funerals were to honour the lives of dedicated contributors to the ACT and district. Both contributed greatly to the Canberra and region community in volunteering capacities as well as in their respective chosen professions.
The first funeral was for Mr David Balfour, a fellow parishioner of Corpus Christi parish at Gowrie. While David was not always in attendance at mass, his wife was often a fixture in the music group and his children could often be seen accompanying their mum. David made the supreme sacrifice while repaying a debt to the Victorians who had helped us during our own ACT tragedy in January 2003. David’s wife, Celia, paid tribute during the mass to the outpouring of support from the brotherhood of emergency services across Australia and indeed the world. The service itself was a fitting tribute for our very own homegrown hero.
The second funeral, just this morning, was for Mr Les McIntyre OAM, out at St Raphael’s church in Queanbeyan. Les McIntyre’s contribution to Queanbeyan and the Canberra region is well documented. I understand that my colleagues this morning here in the Assembly said many fine words about the man who was widely regarded as the father of the Canberra Raiders.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .