Page 1351 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
That was 2008. Mr Keating was ahead of his time, you could say. He was ahead of his time. It goes on and on and on. It is an extraordinary letter, an extraordinary disendorsement, an extraordinary condemnation of the man who is now the alternative premier in the state of New South Wales. This is the calibre of person that those opposite share a political party with, the calibre that these people campaign for and the calibre that these people rampantly defend at every opportunity.
We are very fortunate that across the border here we have got a superb new local member in John Barilaro. John was elected just a week or two ago and brings to the New South Wales parliament amazing experience. He is a born and bred local. He went to school locally. His family set up a business 25 years ago, which he is now running, which has employed dozens and dozens of people over the years, and he really does bring a fresh new face to representation in Queanbeyan, Cooma, Braidwood, Bungendore, Bombala and the many other places in the electorate of Monaro.
But most importantly for us here in the ACT he will be an easy person for us to deal with—easy for the opposition, for the crossbench and for the government to deal with—when it comes to solving the regional issues which confront us all. It is absolutely vital that we have a genuinely collaborative effort when it comes to solving the problems of our region and ensuring that the issues we face are not insurmountable. I am very confident that John Barilaro is going to be able to deliver a tremendous amount to the people of Monaro but indirectly also to the people of the ACT through a collaborative approach which I know he will foster.
Cross-border relations are extremely important and it is extremely important that we get on top of them and that we do so as collaboratively as possible. I commend this issue as something the ACT government needs to work harder on and I am sure my colleagues will reiterate the concerns that we have and also the opportunities there are for ensuring that cross-border relations improve in the future.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage) (3.24): I welcome the opportunity to speak about the important issue of cross-border relations. I think Mr Coe exhibits the contempt which the Liberal Party has for cross-border relations by using the last 15 minutes simply for a party political attack on my Labor Party colleagues in New South Wales.
In doing that he has to some extent in a very personal way commented on lifestyle and lifestyle issues and personal issues affecting some of my colleagues. Commenting on personal issues of Labor Party politicians in New South Wales is, by any definition, gutter politics and it really is a pity to see Mr Coe, in a debate on an important issue around cross-border relationships between two governments, use the opportunity, supported by his Leader, to simply launch a personal attack on personal issues relating to members of the Labor Party in New South Wales. It really is gutter politics in the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video