Page 2459 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 June 2011
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Compare this with those opposite. They have no policy at all. There is no plan, Mr Smyth. There is no strategy. They have been caught out on this time and time again. Perhaps the most recent example, and some of the most excruciating radio we have heard in this city in recent times, was Mr Coe and then Mr Seselja on Jorian Gardner’s program on 2CC, which led to a ban, Mr Speaker; the opposition leader is not letting his MLAs on that most conservative of Canberra radio stations. We have the 2CC Liberal media gag. It is extraordinary stuff, Mr Speaker.
A leader must have respect for democracy. The Chief Minister and all on this side respect the will of the people in the ACT. That is why we keep our election commitments. It is why when the people of the ACT wanted the Greens party to be more strongly represented in this place that we sought stability of government by working with them. That is why we will show respect to the people of the ACT by showing due respect to the processes of this place, the seat of the people’s will.
Again, compare this to the approach of those opposite. The Leader of the Opposition does not take the people of Canberra into his confidence. He has brought forward no policy for them to consider. Is this because he is sulking about the 2008 election—the worst result for the Canberra Liberals in the history of elections under the Hare-Clark system? In fact, I think it is the second worst result only to the inaugural Assembly election back in the late 80s. That is worth reflecting on, Mr Speaker, because the people never get it wrong and the Labor Party knows this.
It really is about the respect or the disrespect that this opposition leader shows for democracy embodied in this place. Let us think about that. He failed to discipline Mr Hanson this week for his outrageous disregard of this place and of your role, Mr Speaker. Is it because this opposition leader has no regard for democracy or because he is a leader who has lost control of his five member party room?
The most basic thing that a leader needs is capacity for hard work. There is no doubt that the job of the Chief Minister or that of any cabinet minister is a hard one. This Chief Minister and ministers on this side of the chamber understand this. We get in and we do the hard yards. Compare this with the approach of our counterparts. Zed is in bed asleep. Zed by name, Zed by nature, as Ross Solly observed on the Federal Political Panel last week—too lazy to develop, release or defend policy; too lazy to think beyond October next year.
This week he told the Canberra City News that holding his team of six people together was a great leadership achievement. That is what the Canberra Liberals have learnt, that if they stop fighting each other they might be able to present a credible face to the people of Canberra. But with no policy, irrespective of whether or not you all hold hands in a circle and sing Kumbaya and let your chief of staff do the media management for you, that does not an alternative government make. Mr Seselja, it is normal operating procedure to be able to hold a team of six together. It is not an achievement.
Leadership is about the things I have described, and these are things that Katy Gallagher possesses as leader of this government and of the people of the Australian
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