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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1486 ..

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, like many others in this place, I was dismayed yesterday - I am sure you were too, Mr Speaker - at Ms McRae's comments in this place. She ignored the facts and the comments were intemperate and highly insensitive.

Mr Speaker, I take pride in the fact that in the past two years we have worked extremely hard to position Canberra as part of a broader region. Indeed, through the regional leaders forum - an initiative of the Mayor of Goulburn, Margaret O'Neill, and me - we have created a new identity for the Australian capital region and a new era of regional cooperation. Through the forum, we are pursuing a regional approach, looking at such important things as environmental issues and economic development. The leaders have jointly signed letters on such things as international airports and the opportunity for an international freight hub out of Canberra. The region supports Canberra as a regional hub for transport. They support Canberra as a hub for international freight out of this region. Unfortunately, those opposite did not know that. Regional cooperation is not just a catchy phrase. It is vital to Canberra's future.

One of the great criticisms levelled at Canberra by the rest of Australia, as all of us here would know, is that somehow we have been cut off from the real world. Being part of the region is about establishing ourselves very much as part of Australia and of a very important region. In view of yesterday's efforts by Ms McRae, it is not hard to see why the rest of this country has an outdated view, Mr Speaker. You cannot blame the rest of Australia for thinking, "Dearie me, those Canberrans do not know anything", if they heard Ms McRae speak yesterday.

We have spent years - certainly, this side of the house has - breaking down artificial barriers between Canberra and the region and identifying Canberra as part of regional Australia. Yesterday, Ms McRae sought to rebuild the wall. It is no surprise that the reaction was one of outrage from citizens of Queanbeyan, particularly prominent citizens of Queanbeyan. Many of us would have heard the Mayor of Queanbeyan this morning on radio make some pretty interesting comments about Ms McRae's statements. The Mayor of Queanbeyan, just last week, was out here in the rat-race run to raise money for Barnardos. The Mayor of Queanbeyan and a team from the Queanbeyan City Council were here in Canberra taking part in a fund-raising operation - something that was very important. But what did he have to do this morning, Mr Speaker? He had to go on radio and defend Queanbeyan from the ill-advised attack that Ms McRae launched yesterday in this place. The member for Monaro, Peter Cochran, even saw fit today to put out a media release and he described Ms McRae as insolent and arrogant. He went on to say, "What a pompous, conceited person she is to make such an ill-informed statement about the residents of Queanbeyan". They are not my words; they are the words of the member for Monaro.

It might come as some surprise to those opposite; but, to use the words Ms McRae used yesterday, Canberra actually has poor people as well. And guess what? Queanbeyan actually has rich people too. I think it is absolutely a tragedy for Ms McRae or for this Assembly to perpetuate the old "struggle town" nonsense that I think Queanbeyan has done an enormous amount to get rid of over the last few years.

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