Page 695 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Tuesday, 28 March 2023
MADAM SPEAKER (Ms Burch) (10.00): Members:
Dhawura nguna, dhawura Ngunnawal.
Yanggu ngalawiri, dhunimanyin Ngunnawalwari dhawurawari.
Nginggada Dindi dhawura Ngunnaawalbun yindjumaralidjinyin.
The words I have just spoken are in the language of the traditional custodians and translate to:
This is Ngunnawal Country.
Today we are gathering on Ngunnawal country.
We always pay respect to Elders, female and male, and Ngunnawal country.
Members, I ask you to stand in silence and pray or reflect on our responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
Minister for Mental Health
Motion of want of confidence
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (10.01), by leave: Pursuant to standing order 81A, I move:
That this Assembly finds a want of confidence in Minister Davidson (Minister for Mental Health).
The Canberra Liberals have lost confidence in Minister Davidson as a minister. Indeed, the community has lost confidence in her as a minister, and—although I am sure the Labor Party may support her today through gritted teeth—it is very obvious that government members have also lost confidence in her as well. We have all witnessed a performance in this place over months and it is evident to all of us that she is not up to the job as a minister.
I will name a few significant issues: the disaster that is Dhulwa and her repeated delay and failure to act, the inquiry into her office that was instigated by the Chief Minister and Minister Rattenbury with damning findings, her handling of the appalling breach of trust in leaking of personal records of mental health patients, the mishandling of the veterans’ affairs portfolio and the lack of confidence that veterans in Canberra have of her. I will go to each of these in turn but it is very clear to us that she is a minister because the Greens have demanded three ministries not because of merit. I believe there are more capable and better qualified Labor backbenchers who would serve the people of Canberra better.
Frankly it is not in our interest, in some ways, for the minister to step aside—that is, she reflects very poorly on this government and, if she does, stay I see an ongoing litany of damaging headlines for the government. But what of the damage that this is causing some of Canberra’s most vulnerable people? Our duty is to them. The Greens need to put the people of Canberra first. They need to remove her as a minister. They need to accept there are more capable and qualified Labor members who can do this job better.
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