Page 2144 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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We saw this happen with the Liquor Act. We have seen it with various half-baked attempts at reform of the ACT courts system. We have seen it with the social reform with the security industry, which was a backdoor approach to no ticket, no staff, and we have seen it in the design of the Lyneham west wetlands. We saw it with the fake opening of the Alexander Maconochie Centre, which was a blatant election stunt. It was not ready; it did not take prisoners for months after the fake opening; and even after it was open and ready, there were significant failures in the security system, with released prisoners walking out the door with RFID bracelets still attached to them. We have seen only this week the refusal to consult with the legal fraternity over the courts legislation that we will be dealing with later today. We have seen the refusal of the minister to table the opinion about the efficacy of the commonwealth Water Act. He says: “I know what it says. We believe that we’re on safe ground.” But he will not provide that for the information of members in this place.
We have seen this Attorney-General conduct an outrageous, full-blown attack upon the justice and community safety committee because the justice and community safety committee had the audacity to bring down a report which was critical of him. In doing so, he conducted a most appalling attack on his own colleague, accusing her of being dishonest and disreputable. We have seen the minister again talking today about freedom of information and all the things that he has done in favour of freedom of information. The thing that he overlooked was to reveal to the Assembly here today that one of the things that he is most responsible for is a vast increase in the charging regime. Now people are being faced with huge charges for FOI when that previously was not the case, which is another means of limiting people’s access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
I would like to turn now briefly to the efforts of the new Chief Minister. Mr Hanson and Mr Doszpot and other members today have dwelt upon the issues in relation to the Health Directorate and the Calvary debacle, but there are a couple of things that I want to dwell on. We need to put on the record again what the minister said in 2004 when it was reported in the Canberra Times on 11 August that the ACT minister Katy Gallagher ruled out any immediate school closures but said that small schools will have to be discussed. The next day it was reported that a spokesman for education minister Katy Gallagher categorically—categorically, Mr Speaker—ruled out Labor closing schools during the next term of government. “The government will not be closing schools,” the spokesman said. With the school-age population in Canberra decreasing in coming decades, closures would need to be looked at, but that was not during Ms Gallagher’s life in politics. That is what the spokesman said. Ms Gallagher did not in any way before the election correct that record. It is still on the record.
Ms Gallagher: My conscience is very clear.
MRS DUNNE: Your conscience might be very clear because you sent somebody out to lie for you.
MR SPEAKER: One moment Mrs Dunne. Mr Corbell, a point of order?
Mr Hanson: Stop the clocks, please.
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