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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 7 Hansard (20 June) . . Page.. 1970 ..

MR OSBORNE: I urge the Government to include a watch-house in this building, and perhaps get some more police as soon as possible.

Mr Humphries: Even more?

MR OSBORNE: Even more.

Ms McRae: We have to do something with all the unemployed in town.

MR OSBORNE: There are 300 people looking for a job. Mr Speaker, I would like to remind the Government once again that capital works are an important part of our local economy and not a game that we play at this time each year. People's livelihoods are at stake and it would do us as a parliament or the Liberal Party as a government no credit to lose sight of that fact.

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services) (11.27): I think I need to stand up and talk about some of the issues that Mr Osborne brought forward. He continues to talk about cutbacks in public works. As he said, that has been debated ad infinitum in the Assembly. I think Mr Osborne needs to recognise and acknowledge the fact that we took on board most of the recommendations - in fact, all of the recommendations - that Mr Moore's committee put forward. We agree with Mr Osborne that it is of concern, and has been for a long time now, that there have been cutbacks in public works. At least, I think, he ought to acknowledge that this Government intends to do something about it. It might take 12 months to do it, Mr Osborne, but we are not sitting around doing nothing.

Mr Osborne also talked about Learmonth Drive. Yes, there are some people in the community who thought that traffic calming measures in Learmonth Drive were the wrong way to go. But there are others, I have to say to Mr Osborne, who agree with what we did. It is the role of any government to make up its mind, based on the advice it gets in these areas from the traffic experts. I dare say that a lot of people have their own points of view as to what should be done and what should not be done; but we are only politicians, after all, and I intend to continue to take the advice I receive in terms of traffic measures when it makes good sense.

The same sort of thing applies to Box Hill Avenue in Conder, as Mr Osborne knows, and he did acknowledge the fact and he did not blame me for it. I live right round the corner and I think the roundabout at Box Hill Avenue is a beautiful roundabout. It is a magnificent roundabout. It is very safe. In fact, we have put a great big concrete wall around the one objector who, as I understand it, had all sorts of objections. At the end he had a safety objection. He was the only one left. We put up the wall to satisfy his safety objection and now he has other objections. I am afraid that you cannot please everybody all of the time. Once again, the best possible advice that the Government received was that that was the place to stick the roundabout. Perhaps some people do not like roundabouts. We know that some people do not like roundabouts; but, once again, that is where the roundabout is considered to be best located.

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