Page 2931 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 30 June 2010
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Ms Gallagher: Get used to it.
MR SESELJA: Ms Gallagher tells us to get used to it. I think that people are becoming used to the fact that, apart from the occasional break away, the Greens will agree with Labor on the vast bulk of things.
Ms Gallagher: Didn’t you enjoy this morning? You looked like you did.
MR SESELJA: That will be the occasional reality, before they come home.
Government members interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Hargreaves): Order, members! We have one member on his feet speaking and six others speaking at the same time. Can we just allow the leader of the opposition the floor, please?
MR SESELJA: I do thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. The constant interjecting from the likes of Mr Corbell and Ms Gallagher is difficult to stomach, I agree.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, if you will bait them, I cannot help you.
MR SESELJA: I thank you for your excellent handling of the proceedings in the chamber, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is disappointing that the Assembly has missed the opportunity to send a clear message. As an Assembly, we could have said to the government: “These are our priorities. These are different priorities. These are better priorities. These are priorities that reflect the views of the community, reflect the concerns of the community and reflect the fact that there is limited money.”
But it is not just about the fact that there is limited money; there are bad decisions that have been made, and this is one. And this would have been the opportunity for the Assembly to do that, to stand up and say, “We actually believe in supporting what our community is genuinely concerned about, rather than funding legacy projects.” That, unfortunately, is not the case, but we now do have it very clearly on the record from the Greens and the Labor Party that they support gutting the street trees program in order to fund the arboretum. That is the result of this division. That is the result of this vote and that is the result of the debate in the Assembly today.
We will continue to stand up for what we see as the fundamental and important needs of the community. We will continue to stand up for fiscal responsibility. We will continue to stand up for better decision making that focuses on getting grassroots policies and getting local community concerns taken care of before other less important priorities are funded. We will stand up for that. Unfortunately, the Assembly, through the Labor Party and the Greens, has not stood up for the same things and has endorsed the warped priorities of ACT Labor.
Question put:
That Mr Seselja’s motion, as amended, be agreed to.
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