Page 287 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
put their hand on their heart and say they would have done the same thing. I do not think they have that kind of courage. They do not have the kind of courage to walk in here and promptly walk away from the ministerial salary because they had done the wrong thing.
Members interjecting—
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, we heard those people in silence but they are happy to natter amongst themselves. That shows me that they are not interested in what we have to say in rebuttal at all. They are not interested.
Mr Doszpot: You have not addressed the issue at all.
MR HARGREAVES: There you go; there is another one. They are not interested in hearing what—
MR SPEAKER: One moment, thank you. Stop the clock. Mr Smyth was heard in silence and I would expect Mr Hargreaves to be extended the same courtesy, thank you.
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks, Mr Speaker. The second time, if people go back and reflect on what I said at the time I resigned from the ministry, I said there were health issues. It was about one heart attack too many and all that sort of stuff. What members do not know, because I did not put it on the record at the time, was that a post-heart attack condition can be accompanied by depression, and when you are suffering from that kind of thing you make mistakes. When you wake up one morning and say, “I cannot do this anymore,” if you have any courage about it at all and if you have any respect for your community, you walk into the place and you resign. That is what I did. I walked away from an $80,000 allowance, because I was not doing the job that I was being asked to do by the community and my government colleagues.
I find it personally insulting for those opposite to stand up here and repeatedly—and this is not the first time I have heard it—say I was sacked. I was not sacked. For the record, I was not.
With respect to the Tuggeranong Community Council, I would say this: each of us is entitled to differ from our colleagues. I have always maintained my own position. I have no confidence in that council and I have not had any confidence in it for quite some time. And I have said so occasionally outside when asked the question. I was merely saying it again in here. I do not say things outside that I am not prepared to say in here. But I do not think that sort of courage is available to those people over there.
I think what we are seeing here is that these people are trying their best to divert the attention from themselves. We saw the spotlight put on them around the issue about whether authorities have been properly executed to allow people to work offsite, and there are questions about that. There are questions, and hopefully the Leader of the Opposition will not wait until the 11th hour to deliver the response to those questions. Hopefully he will deliver them, I do not know, just after lunch or something. That would be nice. We see further questions coming in the paper today.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video