Page 5173 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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The thing we are still not clear about is: do the Liberal Party actually support this purchase? We have not had any statements about that.
So the Greens were criticising us for not having a position, whilst they are now backtracking like mad to try to defend their initial embracing of the deal.
That strong statement back in June, when the Greens criticised us for not having a position, shows quite clearly that they were solidly behind this proposal. They embraced it fully because they missed the fact that Clare Holland House was part of the proposal. If you are in any lingering doubt, Mr Speaker, let me reiterate what she said further in her speech:
I think the opposition do not actually understand the context of the situation.
Ms Gallagher: You do not.
MR HANSON: This is what Ms Bresnan said. Wait for this, Ms Gallagher; you will enjoy it:
It is a hospital and it is a religious organisation that we are talking about here. We are not talking about anyone else, land sales or anything like that …
So we are talking about a hospital; we are talking about a religious organisation. Oops, we have forgotten there is a hospice. We forgot; we did not notice it. We missed a $9 million part of a deal that included the hospice. That explains why the Greens are now madly playing catch-up and coming out with this pathetic motion today which is simply seeking to appease members of the community who are rightly outraged by being sold out by the Greens. Let me repeat it:
It is a hospital and it is a religious organisation we are talking about here. We are not talking about anyone else …
And the Greens did not, because they missed it. They indeed, not the opposition, did not understand the context of the situation. They rushed out in support of the proposal and they forgot to look at the detail. If it was the Liberals or Labor, we would be held to account. But it seems to be okay for the Greens simply to forget the $9 million part of this proposal.
Maybe the Greens should have agreed to my motion in October where I wanted to refer this package deal to the Auditor-General. But at that stage they refused to do that as well, because this scrutiny was going to be so rigorous. Clearly, it was so rigorous that they forgot the $9 million part of the proposal.
The only explanation, other than incompetence, is that this was done maliciously. And I am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to the Greens that this is, based on their prior form, a case of incompetence rather than of being malicious. So I think it is quite clear that the Greens’ motion today is one of spin, with zero substance. It amounts to nothing; it is simply about making noise to try to appease the community.
I move the amendment circulated in my name.
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