Page 276 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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MR HARGREAVES: Quite happily. But I do remark, Mr Speaker, that it is interesting how Mr Jeffery in fact has outed himself as a Liberal front. He said, “I was a member of the Liberal Party for 40 years.” He only went into that party to make sure that there was a Liberal government in place. That has got to be questioned by the electorate at large. They have got to say, “Is a person being honest when they say they are an independent?” Do they say that? They do not. And we all know, Mr Speaker, now that Mr Jeffery has outed himself as a closet Liberal—he is not a closet Liberal, Mr Speaker; he comes from a water closet.
Mrs Dunne: Mr Speaker, I move that Mr Hargreaves be given more time to pontificate on the issues relating to Tuggeranong.
MR HARGREAVES: I am finished. It is over now.
MR SPEAKER: I am afraid you would need leave for that motion, Mrs Dunne.
Tuggeranong Community Council
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (9.18): Just briefly, I would like to counter Mr Hargreaves’s attack on the Tuggeranong Community Council. I think the Tuggeranong Community Council does an outstanding job. It is unfortunate that the Labor Party position now on the Tuggeranong Community Council is to attack it, to attack people who give up their time to serve the Tuggeranong community. I think it is shameful that Joy Burch appears to have endorsed those comments from Mr Hargreaves.
This is the kind of disdain that Labor has for the people of Tuggeranong. We have seen it time and time again, and John Hargreaves, in his late night rant, has confirmed the disdain in which the ACT Labor Party holds the people of Tuggeranong. There is a reason why they lost so many votes at the last election and we can see that disdain on show here tonight. The Canberra Liberals have great respect for the work that the Tuggeranong Community Council does and for the Tuggeranong community as a whole, in stark contrast to John Hargreaves, Joy Burch and the ACT Labor Party.
National Year of Reading
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (9.20): Yesterday saw the launching in the ACT of the National Year of Reading. In the ACT there have been a number of people selected to be ambassadors during this year and there are some great Canberrans among them. Jess Bibby from the Canberra Capitals, Grace Gill from Canberra United, Matt Toomua from the ACT Brumbies and Rob Paxevanos from Fishing Australia.
We all know the importance of books. Even Jon Stanhope, the former ACT Chief Minister, who had such a strange taste in public art, said in late 2011 when announcing the ACT Year of Reading Ambassadors, “Literacy skills are the foundation for lifelong learning.” I absolutely agree. I take great pride in my collection of books and they are a source of much pleasure to me. I developed that love of books, in part, from wide access to the school and local public libraries and teachers and librarians that entrusted me to read and enthused me to read.
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