Page 3135 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 August 2005
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I will be supporting Mrs Dunne’s amendment because I would like to feel that we had a government that can take on criticism. I would like to think that we had a government that was self-critical. I would like to think that we had a government that listened to other members of the Assembly. Sometimes I do see that, but I feel that this practice of replacing one motion, which expresses really valid community concern, with another motion that just wipes that community concern off the slate is disrespectful.
I guess that the Labor members who represent Ginninderra have heard it all. I hope they will have a good response to their constituents because they have the job of going into their party room and trying to persuade the ministers otherwise. I do not know how easy or hard that would be; that is all a black box to me. I do not know what goes on in there. I do not know how it feels to be a Labor member who has constituents saying that they do not like something and not be able to do something about it. Let us hear from them.
MS PORTER (Ginninderra) (12.01): Mr Speaker, I will be speaking against Mrs Dunne’s amendment and for Ms Gallagher’s amendment. I am pleased and proud to support Ms Gallagher’s amendment and to provide my support for the ACT government’s proposal to build a state-of-the-art schooling facility in my electorate.
As members would be aware, the skill and knowledge required of students have changed markedly since Canberra’s schooling infrastructure first started to take shape. Subject choices have diversified, career prospects have extended and the day-to-day needs of learning environments have multiplied. It is more than reading, writing and arithmetic, Mrs Dunne.
The Stanhope government, unlike its predecessors, is a progressive and active legislative force. We do not simply react to populism and attempt to get our faces cheaply in front of a camera as often as possible. We on this side have real commitment to the people of the ACT. We are a proactive government, a government with vision. What is more, we have a track record to prove this commitment. No other government in this territory’s history has delivered on essential services to the extent of the current administration and no other party is more committed to using the power of these offices to deliver improved outcomes for this community.
Upon election to office, the Stanhope government was entrusted with stewardship of innovation and industry in the ACT. In response, we have set out to develop practical applications of an overall vision, the Canberra plan. The proposal we are discussing today is another building block in society, which this government boldly envisaged through the vision that is the Canberra plan. We are committed to making Canberra a better place to live, work and learn and, what is more, this government has demonstrated a willingness to make the necessary financial commitment needed to realise such objectives.
The proposed facility will deliver to the west Belconnen community specialist facilities in its public school, a school that the students deserve. Students in the new school will enjoy, as other members before me have said, access to purpose-built areas for visual arts, drama and media studies and the delivery of a venue with the capability to revitalise the whole community.
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