Page 3604 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 25 August 2009
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years they only had four ministers. Mr Hargreaves did not get a seat. But the pressure was on and he had to go in.
We see why Mr Stanhope was reluctant to put Mr Hargreaves in the cabinet—the whole issue of roads funding, the Tharwa bridge debacle, Mr Hargreaves’s part in the Gungahlin Drive extension and the closing of Griffith library. Mr Hargreaves had a chance to consult on the closure of Griffith library, but he said: “We knew what you’d say, and we just ignored it anyway. We knew you didn’t want this library closed.” Here is a government committed to representing its community, knowing full well that the community did not want the library closed, and it just ignored the community.
The list goes on: remember the busway, over his dead body; the ACTION timetable, not once, not twice, but effectively three times they failed to listen to the community about the ACTION bus timetable; security at the interchanges, where Mr Hargreaves just ignored the problem. Then there was the rock throwing at buses. Now there is an interesting incident. Mr Corbell had to come to the rescue of the government and say, “I’ll set up a process with the AFP.” The left saves the right. Mr Corbell is the knight in shining armour on this one. We had the insult to the Vietnam veterans. We had the fiasco of FireLink. The ESA headquarters move to Fairbairn, which six years later still has not occurred—Mr Hargreaves. Problems in housing. The issue with Revolve. Revolve, a community-based organisation with a passion for the environment and a passion for looking after those less well off by creating job opportunities. Forget it, not going to consult. They are gone. The graffiti issue, taxis, no waste by 2010 and shopfront closures. Then, of course, we have got the standouts: the Al Grassby statue and, of course, the fringe festival. That is Mr Hargreaves’s commitment to consultation.
Now, you only have to look at the words on the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services website, and they are encouraging words. They are good words. They are much better words than the words mouthed by the Chief Minister a few minutes ago:
Welcome to ACT Community Engagement Online.
Community engagement refers to the many ways in which the government and the community work together.
The ACT Government is committed to engaging the Canberra community in the development and implementation of government policies, programs, projects, public works and services.
The information found on these pages is designed to assist members of the community and the government to work together to achieve improved decision-making on policies and programs. We encourage your feedback.
Whoops, what are these words again? The ACT government is committed to engaging the Canberra community, and this information will assist members of the community and the government to work together. We see the community and the government working together on the potential purchase of Cavalry, because the community was included right from the start! We see the Chief Minister being included in the
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