Page 1137 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014

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Wednesday, 7 May 2014

MADAM SPEAKER (Mrs Dunne) took the chair at 10 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Canberra—priority issues

MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (10.02): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes the Opposition’s ongoing engagement with Canberrans, community groups and business raises the following issues as priorities:

(a) the state of disrepair of basic suburban amenities;

(b) dysfunctional planning that is stifling city centres and failing to protect suburban character;

(d) access to health care, in particular waiting times;

(e) education choice and standards, especially culture and behaviour;

(f) lack of support for business, especially small business;

(g) the continued low priority of road transport infrastructure, traffic safety and car parking;

(h) failures in our justice system;

(i) support for those facing genuine hardship; and

(j) management of the economy; and

(2) calls on the Government to focus on Canberra’s real priorities.

It is clear, and it is clear through the debates that we have been having in this place as recently as yesterday, that as a Liberal Party we have very different priorities to the Labor Party and the Greens. And first and foremost we remember that we are not here to serve ourselves or those who keep us in power in this place. We are here to serve the people of Canberra, and that is all the people of Canberra. Going back in history, in 1942, in his forgotten people speech, Menzies spoke of the people who had made Australia the great nation that it had become but had been left behind by the social elites and the Labor Party. John Howard reached out to those same people.

Here the Canberra Liberals are doing the same. In the forgotten suburbs across Canberra—in Tuggeranong, Belconnen, Weston Creek, Woden and Gungahlin—

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