Page 2791 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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in terms of all the constituent work he does and the interest and the enthusiasm that he shows for this portfolio. That is in a stark contrast to the supposed mayor of Canberra, the Chief Minister, who shows a stark disregard for this.
Mr Barr: So 90 seconds in and you haven’t spoken a word about the budget yet.
Mr Stanhope: No, he hasn’t read it.
MR HANSON: Really?
Mr Stanhope: He hasn’t read the estimates report yet.
MR HANSON: Indeed I have. They are here before me, Chief Minister. I have read them in some detail. I enjoyed reading the estimates report. I thought it was a most illuminating document. I read all of the recommendations. I note that when you were asked on Triple 6 this morning, minister, you were unable to even mention one of them. You forgot them, did you? They were at home? The dog ate them? You could not quite recall them. You definitely opposed them. You just could not remember any of them. That was interesting. I have read the report and I enjoyed it immensely—a far better document, I would say, than the government response. What a sad affair that is. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Mr Barr is giggling away over there. We talked a little bit about your photo opportunities, Mr Barr.
Mr Barr: You’re all so fixated on it. It’s quite remarkable, really. Surely there is enough going on in your own lives, but no, apparently not.
MR HANSON: I enjoy the pictures of you that I see all the time. It has been quite a pleasure for me to see it in the Canberra Times. I will just go back to what Mr Stanhope said in the lead-up to the last election. He said he wanted more attention to be given to process rather than photo opportunity; what more could have been achieved? I think those are just words. Back in 2001 Mr Stanhope seemed to say some stuff that appeared quite reasonable. It is a shame that since that time he seems to have completely ignored his own advice. Both in the approp bill and in their normal course of delivering services there has been a complete failure by the government to address the provision of basic services.
During the election campaign the comment that was probably made to me most out in the suburbs was that the Chief Minister and the government were focused on their pet projects, their ideologically driven schemes, at the expense of the delivery of basic services. This is particularly of note in the outer suburbs and obviously in my electorate of Molonglo. Numerous comments were made to me about the lack of provision of services and amenities in Gungahlin. I have heard tonight quite a bit about the library in the inner south—the once Griffith library that was then relocated to Kingston, the size of that facility and the ad hoc nature of the location. That is clearly going to be inadequate. It will not provide anywhere near the service that was previously provided at the location in Griffith and is provided elsewhere in our community.
I certainly share Ms Le Couteur’s concerns about Green Square. Indeed, my children used to play on the grass at Green Square—certainly my older son did; my younger
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