Page 504 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
To sort of quote my Labor colleague the Deputy Chief Minister, or to continue a practice of taking Ms Berry wildly out of context and to quote her in part, I would say to Minister Steel, “I’ve been saying sorry to people since before you were born—and some of them were probably childcare workers.” I had enormous problems saying sorry when I was nine years old. I can vividly the long stand-off that I had with my parents. Ultimately, there was a particular incident during which I was confined to my room until I was big enough to come out and say that I was sorry. My mother wondered if we could confine the minister to his office, but I told her that was not possible.
Everyone messes up from time to time, but what sets healthy relationships apart from unhealthy ones is the ability and willingness to own up to mistakes and/or politics. What we are talking about here is the relationship that Minister Steel has with his electorate and with the city generally. That is what the motion is about. It is part of the human condition to want to be right all the time, but we cannot achieve that.
We are all going to make mistakes. All we were asking for was an admission that some people have been negatively impacted and to apologise. The first step is recognising that apologising is not about who is right or wrong in any given situation. It is about acknowledging the other person’s feelings and taking accountability for your part in that, however large or small. Is it really that difficult?
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Ms Lawder, upon further consideration, if you do not withdraw your previous statement, I will have to name you.
MS LAWDER: Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is a tough choice. It is very difficult with my principles. I believe the minister was saying something that he knew to be not the case.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Ms Lawder, it is not a debate.
MS LAWDER: At your ruling, Mr Assistant Speaker, I withdraw.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Ms Lawder.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (3.16): I thank Miss Candice Burch for bringing this motion before the Assembly today. I rise to speak in full support of the idea that the Minister for Transport should apologise to Canberrans for disastrous changes to the transport network. In doing so I wish to share the experiences of a Canberra resident who recently contacted me to explain his situation and ask for redress. Nick, as I will call him, is a young man who works as an apprentice in Hume. When he accepted his apprenticeship, he understood that he would be able to travel to the worksite each day by taking the No 88 bus from Symonston to Hume. This gave him the confidence and sense of independence that allowed him to start this new and important chapter in his life.
This tired old government then decided it could somehow improve the bus network by axing people’s buses and removing their stops. In Nick’s case, he found himself
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video