Page 2769 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 August 2015
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MR COE: I was talking about it implying or having said that the government has misled. Whether it is out of order to say the government has misled as opposed to an individual—
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: I will take that as perhaps he did not say “the government”. He has not said an individual has misled anyone. It is talking more generally as a debating point, but thank you for pointing that out. Mr Coe, I am sure, will be careful with what he says.
Dr Bourke: On another point of order, Madam Assistant Speaker, just a moment ago you brought Mr Hanson to order, at which stage he laughed, which is a reflection on your ruling.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Dr Bourke.
Mr Hanson: Madam Assistant Speaker, I can assure you that I would never laugh at one of your rulings. I may have laughed at Dr Bourke.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: That is enough, thank you. Let us all proceed and get through this as best we can for the rest of the evening.
MR COE: It is interesting that this article from September 2012 does not include Dr Bourke. Maybe Dr Bourke was in on the truth that perhaps there was not ever going to be any money for the old Evatt shops upgrade or for any of the other ones. Maybe he knew that Evatt was not going to be upgraded and Gwydir Square was not going to be upgraded and it was a bit of a sham promise and that is why he is not in the photo. Perhaps that is why it is Ms Berry, Ms Porter and Ms Gallagher.
Unfortunately the community was still clearly left with the impression that this government would deliver, and once again they have been let down. The Canberra community have been let down despite the fact that rates go up, that fees go up, that charges go up, that taxes go up. Yet they are getting very little in return.
Next year I am sure we can expect the government to make promises about upgrades to local shops as part of the election campaign. Who knows, maybe they will recycle Evatt and Gwydir Square and others around Belconnen and other parts of Canberra? Maybe they will promise to do it next year. Maybe 2017 is the year. 2017 is the year it is all going to happen!
I am sure Mr Rattenbury is going to say, “We’ve done this piece of work here and this piece of work there. We’ve got a plan here and a plan there.” But that does not change the fact that there are numerous sites right across Canberra that the government said they would be upgrading and it simply has not happened.
The motion today calls on the government to honour its promises to the Canberra community and to the businesspeople who take risks and invest in our community. The government made promises to the community during the 2012 election campaign, and I think it is reasonable that they are honoured. They have gone well above and
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