Page 731 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 May 1992

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MR CONNOLLY: He cannot even tell what is a Bill. He is waving the Canberra Theatre Trust report around. Madam Speaker, while I can see the Liberal press release being written, if it has not already been written, criticising this Government for an alleged lack of business, and, perhaps, in so doing criticising this Assembly, the fact remains that this efficient, hardworking Labor Administration and this Assembly are managing to deal with business with a high level of dispatch, such that we have in the last six sitting days dealt with and passed 24 Bills. Twenty-four Bills have come into law - four per sitting day, more than doubling the work rate - - -

Mr Cornwell: How many were EEO?

MR CONNOLLY: Even if we take the EEO Bills out, we are still well in front of the work rate of the Alliance Administration, which managed, over the 12-month period covered in this Assembly Secretariat report, to sit for 49 days and pass 68 Bills - a rather pathetic 1.38 Bills per sitting day. This Government, running at four Bills per sitting day, clearly is legislating not only in the interests of the population of the Territory but also with speed and dispatch, providing efficient and lean government.

Valley Dragons Supporters Appeal

MS ELLIS (3.37): I addressed the Assembly in the adjournment debate just over a week ago, and brought to the Assembly's attention an issue in the Tuggeranong Valley concerning the Baumgart family and a fundraising function that was being held that very evening. I also undertook to come back to the Assembly and advise members of the outcome.

My advice to date is that, with the wonderful response of the community, particularly the local Tuggeranong community, to whom I offer my heartiest congratulations and, of course, also to the organising committee, somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 is being mooted as the approximate figure that has been raised. It is a bit vague at this stage because there was more than one fundraising effort in place at the time.

I would like to take this opportunity to put on record in Hansard my recognition, and I am sure this house's recognition, not only of the efforts put in by the Valley Dragons fundraising committee, made up of friends and sporting associates of the Baumgart family, but also of the members, executive and employees of the Tuggeranong Valley Rugby Union and Amateur Sports Club who also came in very strongly in supporting this event.

The other thing to mention is that the VIP guests of the evening, people such as Jeff Fenech, Peter Fitzsimmons and Doug Walters, who came from interstate, came at their own cost, and I think that we need to recognise the sort of contribution these sportspeople have made. The local sportspeople, the Cannons, the Raiders and a lot of lower sporting clubs also rallied around. The message we need to think about here is that in the day of Canberra bashing, and even within Canberra the odd day of Tuggeranong bashing, we need to pay tribute and to recognise when community actually rallies around community. I would like, through this Assembly, to put on record my recognition of that and, on behalf of the community in Tuggeranong, our sincere thanks to those who put themselves out to such a degree in such tragic circumstances.


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