Page 1420 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 3 May 2016
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on the Manuka Oval bid, a bid that is being led by her husband as one of the senior lobbyists? To make matters worse, her involvement in this may well have started in her time as chief of staff in Mr Barr’s office. How can anyone trust a minister who fails to identify that receiving a briefing from her husband in his role as a senior lobbyist is not a significant conflict of interest? This is a demonstration of a significant lack of judgement.
The important issue here is what kind of government will Mr Barr scrape together should the people of Canberra make the mistake of returning him to power again in October? The people of Canberra should not make this mistake. The Labor government Mr Barr leads is likely to be underpinned by the same old arrogance and the same old disregard for the ministerial code of conduct. The words may have changed, the faces may well change, but the way ACT Labor will operate, if given the opportunity to continue for another four years, will be the same.
The only way to see true renewal is a change of government. That renewal will occur only when the people of Canberra vote out a tired old government and instil their trust in the Canberra Liberals—a stark alternative to represent the views and the aspirations of all Canberrans, one that leaves no-one behind. We will be a government that appoints ministers who respect the responsibilities they have been given and a government that I earnestly hope will be able to lead Canberra come the October election. I hope to be part of it. It is the only way to well and truly overhaul the way government is operated in this city.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Urban Renewal) (3.25): I am pleased to talk in this place this afternoon about good government, transparency and accountability, about governing in the public interest, because all of these things are at the heart of every Labor government. Our government has always taken ministerial responsibility and conduct with the seriousness that it deserves. It stands in contrast to those opposite who never, ever put such standards into practice.
The only time they seem to care about them is when they think that they can grubby someone up. We know this because it fell to this government to introduce a code of conduct that meant something. Those opposite liked the idea as window-dressing, but they never respected it enough to act like it meant anything to them. No wonder they indulged in some of the most mysterious uses of public funds and came up with the sweetest of sweetheart arrangements for their fellow travellers. It was this side of the chamber that took up the heavy task of restoring public trust in government decision-making from where those opposite had left it, weighed down under the crushing spread of appalling abuses of office by those opposite.
On this side of the chamber, we take the code seriously. I know those opposite think it is only important because they can use it to make unsubstantiated insinuations. On this side of the chamber, we know it is fundamental to making sure every decision we make is fair and equitable, that all commercial decisions represent best value for money for the territory and, just as importantly, Madam Speaker, the public knows that is how we make our decisions.
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