Page 2747 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 16 September 2014
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the Assembly. In accordance with standing order 79, I have determined that the matter proposed by Mr Wall be submitted to the Assembly, namely:
The importance of government getting its priorities right for the people of the ACT.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (3:28): Today’s matter of public importance goes to the heart of what should be the fundamental role of governments at every tier, be it federal, state or municipal level; getting the priorities right for the people you represent. When ACT residents went to the polls in 2012 they put their faith and trust into individuals whom they believed would put them first. However, unfortunately, through the quirks of our Hare-Clark electoral system, we are left with a government that has passed its use-by date, propped up by one individual whose priorities and views are undoubtedly not reflective of those of most Canberrans.
Priorities for this Labor-Greens alliance government have been firmly attached to ideology and they more closely reflect the perspective of a champagne socialist rather than the traditional working class whom the Labor Party once stood to represent. Their track record shows just how arrogant you can get if you are in government for too long—13 years too long, to be exact.
It would be remiss of me not to start today with the big ticket item on the priority list of the current Labor-Green government: light rail. Of course the one and only Green in this place, Mr Rattenbury, is cheering quite loudly following the Chief Minister’s recent announcement that this project has been given the all important green light. After all, it is the ALP’s commitment to proceed with this project, amongst other ideological pet projects that saw them form government in this place, the agreement of which has given Mr Rattenbury so much influence in decisions made in this place.
We have heard Mr Corbell here today wax lyrical once again about his grand vision for this almost, but not quite, $800 million project—expenditure which has been given the final tick of approval by cabinet. The word “transformational” appears in almost every publication, speech, piece of material or propaganda that is put out on this project by this government. Mr Corbell is very fond of the word and the connotations it brings. But the question is: for whom is this project transformational, minister? I wager here and now that the overwhelming majority of the people of Tuggeranong do not see this train set folly as a priority for them now or into the future.
Madam Speaker, this morning on radio there was an overwhelming outpouring of views about the project. Listeners were asked to share their thoughts on whether light rail was a great idea for Canberra or a future white elephant and a waste of money. One of the main themes coming from all comments, positive and negative, was priorities. I would just like to share briefly some of the comments that appeared today on a radio station’s Facebook page:
Complete waste of money! Put the money into other infrastructure, hospitals & education where it’s needed. Fix the bus schedule and it will work fine. Canberra is not built for light rail and it will not be supported.
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