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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2576 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

There have been some problems with people who have fallen. I have had a number of people ring my office. I have had a doctor's surgery report to me on the number of people who have fallen and hurt themselves. As you are quite well aware, it is much more difficult for older people. A fall creates many more problems for an older person that it does for a younger person because of the time it takes to heal and the lack of confidence that quite often results from the fall. I could further raise the issue of people trying to get compensation to pay medical bills. The process has been extremely slow at times. We have a well-used, well-set-up shopping precinct that needs some assistance from the Government to improve the public areas. They are not asking the Government to help them run their shops or save their businesses; they are working hard themselves to ensure that their shops are meeting the needs of the local area and the broader area of that part of the Woden Valley. But they need some assistance to get on the precinct management list to have the opportunity to set up a more modern area for Curtin. They are still waiting to hear from the department about this, after one approach.

The basis of this petition from the people using the centre and living in the area is that the Government should look at the Curtin shopping centre and give it the same opportunities as some of the other group centres in the ACT to have their public fabric improved and to have a shopping centre that the people can use without concern about their own safety in relation to falling or about the other problems in the area. The other interesting point in relation to the petition is that, if you look at the broad number of people who have signed it, you will see that they are not just people who live in Curtin; so it is a shopping centre that is used by a number of people in the Woden Valley for their shopping needs - something the Government probably should be extremely proud of. It is a successful group centre in the ACT. You have only to see the number of people who use the centre to realise that they consider it important. The proposition I am putting before you is that the petition be sent to the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment, by asking that this motion be agreed to.

MR KAINE (Minister for Urban Services) (10.40): Mr Speaker, the best that I could say about this little stunt is that it is nothing but a cheap political trick; but the worst I could say about it is that it is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public as to what is happening at Curtin. I use the words "deliberate" and "mislead" with deliberate intent. Curtin is on the list for upgrade and has been for at least three years. Curtin is the next cab off the rank.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I think Mr Kaine, in his opening remarks, levelled a rather strong imputation at my colleague, Ms Reilly, in relation to this matter. The imputation was along the lines that there was a deliberate intent to mislead. I think that imputation ought to be withdrawn.

MR SPEAKER: I listened carefully to Mr Kaine. He said "a deliberate intent to mislead".

MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I said that at worst it could be interpreted as being a case of being deliberately misleading. That was one of the two possible interpretations I put on it. The facts are that, obviously, the Labor Party does not want their cheap trick exposed.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

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