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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1554 ..

MR STANHOPE: Yes, you were not interested in doing it yourselves. We are doing it. We get into government, we promise to do it, we commit to do it, we undertake to do it. We have not even got to first base yet, and you want us to say, "It doesn't matter what the study finds and what the conclusions are," and you are asking us, "Will you sign the cheque? Will you commit to it now irrespective of the bottom line?" We know what the bottom line looks like after seven years of Liberal government. It looks crook. And you want us to sign up to a $100 million project before the inquiry is held. How absolutely banal.

MR SPEAKER: Order! One at a time! Mrs Cross, you wanted to raise a point of order.

Mrs Cross: I did, in reference to standing order 118.

MR SPEAKER: Take no notice of the flak, just get to the point of order.

Mrs Cross: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker, I appreciate that. You are very gracious. I asked a very simple question, Chief Minister, and you have given me a number of other bits of information that I find rather irrelevant. I did not ask you to commit blood to this, Chief Minister. I simply asked, for the benefit of the people of Gungahlin, if you will commit to it if the feasibility study shows that it is a viable option. That is all I want to know.

MR SPEAKER: Mrs Cross, I think you have got about as much as you are going to get.

Mrs Cross: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I do not think you have a point of order: you cannot require ministers to answer a question in the way that you wish. We have been through this before, so I am not going to press the issue any further.

MR STANHOPE: I will just conclude with this comment. The ACT government is committed to exploring the development of sustainable transport policies. That is why we initiated this study and why we showed the foresight and the commitment to address these difficult issues.

We are particularly concerned about the transport needs of the people of Gungahlin. That is why we are seeking to ensure that the Gungahlin Drive extension is built and concluded according to a timetable we have all agreed on. I find it particularly artful that you, Mrs Cross, or anybody on your side of this place should stand up and pretend to have any interest in the transport needs of the people of Gungahlin, given that you and your colleagues up in the other place are deliberately seeking to stymie the development of the Gungahlin Drive western option. It is a deliberate campaign of obstruction by your federal colleagues.

For you to stand up in this place and pretend that you have any interest in the transport needs of the people of Gungahlin is quite breathtaking. We know what is going on. We are not stupid; nor are the people of Gungahlin. You are deliberately seeking to obstruct the construction of Gungahlin Drive on the western route. You are deliberately seeking to ensure that it does not run to timetable, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

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