Page 891 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2012
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Members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members!
MS GALLAGHER: to come out and be a proud Canberran—to dust off for a public holiday and come out and support the city—
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members!
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members! Chief Minister, return to the question, please.
MS GALLAGHER: Sorry, Mr Speaker. Very professional!
Mr Hanson: You are so unstatesmanlike.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, enough.
MS GALLAGHER: I am not a statesman, Mr Hanson. In case it has not dawned on you yet, I am actually a woman.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Right. Order!
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, that is enough, thank you. The Chief Minister is now going to continue to answer the question.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is fair to say that over time we have not necessarily enjoyed the support of prime ministerial champions. In fact, I believe the last Prime Minister who deeply cared for this city and invested in this city perhaps was Prime Minister Menzies, who certainly left his mark on this city and has been acknowledged appropriately. But it was wonderful to have Julia Gillard come out publicly and formally commit the Commonwealth of Australia to properly recognising the role and significance of Canberra in the life of the nation.
Crucially, the Prime Minister committed the commonwealth, “to continuing to build and grow the nation’s capital, its cultural institutions and its role as the focus of ceremonial, parliamentary and national leadership”. The Prime Minister also committed to Canberra remaining the heart of the Australian public service and the primary location of government departments and agencies. It was a wonderful and welcome message to the many thousands of families who either work for the APS or whose businesses depend on the strength of the APS.
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