Page 2250 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 9 May 2012

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(b) the importance of the Commonwealth public service to the entire economic stability of the Territory;

(d) Commonwealth public servants in Canberra are often a particular target for “Canberra bashing”; and

(e) Commonwealth public servants are experiencing significant uncertainty as job losses occur in many departments and agencies;

(2) affirms the role of Commonwealth public servants in Canberra;

(3) demands of the Commonwealth Government that it protect Commonwealth public servants in Canberra from bearing a disproportionate burden on its efforts to save money;

(4) demands of Federal politicians of all parties that they recognise and respect the contribution made by Commonwealth public servants, rather than denigrating them; and

(5) calls on the Speaker to inform the Prime Minister of the Assembly’s resolution.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this motion today. As a former commonwealth public servant, I understand the wonderful job that our public servants do, not just in serving the nation but also in contributing to the life of our city. And I think that in Canberra we cannot help but be associated one way or another with the public service. Even those who are not public servants, if they are in business, are often servicing the commonwealth government and public service. Most of us would have family members who work in the commonwealth public service here in Canberra.

So it is a significant part of our city. We in the Canberra Liberals respect the job that they do and this motion is about affirming that. And I am really hopeful that we can get unanimous support for this motion because it simply is a statement of principle. It is a statement of principle that we support the work they do, we value the work they do, that the Canberra bashing that goes on is unhelpful.

We have not gone in the motion into the Canberra bashing that celebrities have been doing lately. But we know that we get Canberra bashing from federal politicians. We see that unfortunately on both sides of politics. People would remember Kevin Rudd’s statement about taking a meat axe to the public service. We hear from Liberal politicians federally as well. I condemn that Canberra bashing no matter whom it comes from. So the Canberra Liberals will stand up on this matter regardless of who is the federal government.

In the context of the importance of the public service and the need to support our public servants, I think that last night’s federal budget was a very disappointing evening for Canberra families. But more than that, I think it was a significant betrayal

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