Page 1965 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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Or are we going to see an increase in unimproved capital value that can be directly linked to public art? And will we see an increase in rates? Is this part of the Jon Stanhope legacy—we get the public art, we get the $8 million or more spent on public art, and the people of the ACT not only pay for it through the budget but then pay for it through their rates for years to come into the future.
These are the questions that Minister Burch should answer. She should have answered them during question time. That is why we need to suspend standing orders.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (3.13): The government will not be supporting the suspension of standing orders. For heaven’s sake, Mr Speaker! Is this really the pressing moment of issue before the Assembly today? Is this the issue that Mrs Dunne and the opposition feel so aggrieved about that we have to suspend all the other business of the Assembly just so we can deal with the fracturing of Mrs Dunne’s glass jaw?
Minister Burch was very clear in the Hansard. She said:
I just refer to an article that was in the Canberra Times in “Opinion” on 27 March where the author—
not Ms Burch, the author—
makes it very clear that public art’s benefits are …
And so on and so forth. I find it extraordinary that those opposite are prepared to completely disrupt the business of this place because they were unhappy with an answer that Ms Burch gave. Mr Speaker, I think there are more serious things to deal with. I think the opposition should reflect on that. The government will not be supporting the motion for the suspension of standing orders.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (3.15): We will not be supporting the motion for the suspension of standing orders. It is very clear here that the main issue is about the quality of answers. Yes, all of us could say that there would be times when we were not pleased with the quality or satisfied with the answers we get. We cannot suspend standing orders every time. Really that is at the heart of the matter here. We have other business this afternoon that we need to get on to.
I am sure that if this is a big pressing issue for the Canberra Liberals, they will come back and ask more questions. There are a number of forums in which they can do that. But at the end of the day, this is about the quality of answers. Sure, we would have to agree that quite often we come away from question time dissatisfied as well. But we are not going to support the motion for the suspension of standing orders on this matter.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (3.16): It really does not matter what the issue is. Whether it is public art, health or education, if they are
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