Page 66 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 28 February 2007
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struggled to come to terms with what had happened to our community, the Chief Minister was being publicly cheered for his rescue of the helicopter pilot amidst growing community anger being levelled at emergency services and other operational authorities. The full quote from the Chief Minister in which he sought that blame be apportioned to him was as follows:
I stand beside each and every member of the Emergency Services Bureau, I stand beside every member of our Fire Service, our Police Service, our volunteers, our Rural Service, all those New South Wales officers that were part and parcel of the defence of Canberra … What I am saying is do not cheer me, if you want to blame someone, blame me. Cheer those people in this community who put their lives on the line for all of us, that is what I am asking.
See that in the context in which it was said. What he was saying was “Don’t you dare cheer me” when this city’s shell-shocked firefighters were being lambasted in some quarters. How disgusting that those words and sentiments and that moral conviction are turned against him as justification for seeking his resignation.
How easy would it have been for a politician, a leader, to bask in widespread community applause and not defend those to whom the anger was being directed? It seems that the real reason the Chief Minister faces this motion is that the opposition cannot understand that there are some politicians who are willing to stand up for their officials rather than throw them to the lions in order to escape personal pain or potential political damage.
The members of the opposition cannot get inside the head of someone who refuses to cut loyal public servants loose at the first whiff of danger—who stands by the individuals who did their best in the circumstances even if their best finally proved unequal to the occasion. It was principle that made the Chief Minister attempt to draw criticism away from firefighters in the days immediately after the catastrophe, when he himself was being hailed as a hero for saving a man’s life. Look at the context in which the words were spoken and understand what he was trying to do at the time.
It was principle that led the Chief Minister to support the right of officials to pursue all legal avenues at their disposal at the time the apprehended bias application was made. The application has been totally misconstrued as an attempt to shield the government from criticism. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In addition, the suggestion that the government should meet the costs of these individuals, as ACT government employees at the time, grossly offended the opposition, who were not backwards in coming forward with their criticism. How bizarre that a politician would stand by his officials or by the principles of natural justice! How unnatural is a concept of so staunchly supporting those who work for the public, for the ACT community! The concepts are clearly foreign to those opposite.
The opposition are fond of the notion that the Chief Minister did not warn the community earlier about the impending firestorm. What we are being asked to believe is that, two days prior to the firestorm hitting the urban areas of Canberra, cabinet was told about the potential risks to the urban fringe and did nothing. To accept this scenario simply defies logic.
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