Page 2149 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
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at the moment, buses are the main things that are raised with us as local members of the Assembly.
Canberrans, like anyone anywhere else, deserve state-of-the-art health facilities. We all agree on that. That is why it is important to have this motion here today about the importance of maintaining health infrastructure for the wellbeing of the whole Canberra community. Paragraph 1(b) of the motion notes:
… a Strategic Assets Management Plan for health infrastructure completed in February 2018 identified that critical assets are nearing the end of their useful life …
In the time I have been here, we have seen things like the switchboard fire. We have already spoken about that this week. The project for the replacement of the switchboard is now tens of millions of dollars over the initial budget. We have spoken in this place this week about our expensive hospitals and our long emergency department waiting times. We have spoken about the allegation that mothers in the ACT are sent home earlier than they are in any other jurisdiction. These are vital issues that we bring forward, amplify and air in the public arena.
That is why, in the middle of this discussion on one of the key items for people of the ACT, as I was upstairs watching on the TV, I was surprised—in fact, I was shocked—to hear a senior member of the government, Ms Fitzharris, the minister for health, refer to my colleague Mrs Dunne as being, to the best of my recollection, at the end of her useful life. Ms Fitzharris said something like “speaking of things being at the end of their useful life” when Mrs Dunne interjected. What an unbecoming thing to say. What an unbecoming thing to say about the longest serving member of the Legislative Assembly. It is ageist, it is elitist, it is arrogant, it is dismissive and it is completely reflective of an ongoing narrative of this government about the value of people who may be older than some of those opposite and their contribution to our public life.
In a recent debate about seniors, I said to Mrs Dunne something like “not to mention how old she or I might be”. This government—I have already said this today—want to be young and hip. Mrs Dunne and I are of a similar age and experience; we have more respect for people who have spent their lifetime contributing to our society, our community and our parliament than those opposite do.
I think Mr Rattenbury thought it was very amusing as well. Mr Rattenbury likes to project himself as holier than thou, as if he would never interject, as if he has an absolutely clear conscience that he never interjects. But he is quite thin-skinned when people call out things about him.
Members interjecting—
MS LAWDER: What we are seeing here—and it is once again demonstrated by those opposite, who cannot seem to control themselves in this forum—is an elitist attitude, an ageist attitude, an attitude of lack of respect for what is one of the most pressing issues for the Canberra community: our health infrastructure.
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