Page 2353 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 June 2013
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Other achievements of which I am proud include protecting Calvary hospital, saving taxpayers $77 million—I acknowledge the work of Jeremy Hanson in that, in protecting a great hospital—legislating a cost of living statement, drug driving laws, campaign advertising reform, campaign finance reform, protecting the Shepherd Centre’s funding, and protecting Chisholm park, amongst other achievements.
There are little moments behind the scenes where we have the opportunity to help a constituent. They are particularly satisfying. I recall pushing ACTEW to reverse an obscene water bill which all of the facts showed would have been impossible to accrue.
And there have been monumental moments, such as standing with the business community in opposing the absurdity that was the proposed $430 million government office building. The forensic work we did in exposing the flawed assumptions and massive costs forced the government to abandon what would have been a monumental waste of money. It would have made it difficult for other important projects to be funded, and it was therefore a great service to the community to ensure this project did not go ahead.
As well as those achievements, Madam Speaker, I remain proud of my part in rebuilding the Liberal Party’s fortunes here in the ACT. The ACT is not an easy place for the Liberal Party. The rough two-party vote at a federal level is around 63 to 37, so we start behind and have to work much harder than some of our opponents. But the state of the party in the ACT in 2007 was at a particularly low ebb. Infighting in both the parliamentary party and the lay party had played out publicly to such an extent that the party was being abandoned even by its traditional supporters.
It was in this scenario that the party made the crazy brave decision to make a 30-year-old in his first term in the Assembly, and the youngest member of the Assembly at the time, opposition leader. It was a daunting and exciting moment. The first polling I saw had us winning perhaps four seats. We worked our guts out just to re-establish credibility with the community. The unity improved, morale lifted, and so did our performances. The policies were produced and promoted.
Over the next five years I worked alongside people such as Brendan Smyth as deputy leader, party presidents Winnifred Rosser and Tio Faulkner, and senior staff such as Steve Doyle and Ian Hagan, along with two party rooms who worked to build the Liberal Party in the ACT to make it as effective for the community and Liberal values as possible.
And slowly, then surely, then strongly, the people came back to the party. From our low moment in 2007 we came to a point where, in a town which has traditionally voted overwhelmingly for the Labor Party, the Liberal Party won the popular vote. We won the highest number of seats ever, the second highest vote ever, and not just the highest vote for the Liberal Party in Brindabella ever but the highest vote for any party in Brindabella ever.
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