Page 263 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
is committed to addressing these issues. Yes, there is more work to be done, but I believe, certainly in the land planning and transport planning side of things, we are leading the way and putting in place significant measures—measures that we will continue to build on into the future.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (11.42): I would like to respond to some of the earlier speakers and, in doing so, speak to the amendment.
MR SPEAKER: You can only speak to the amendment.
DR FOSKEY: Thank you.
Mr Hargreaves: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: You can only speak to the amendment.
Mr Hargreaves: You are not closing the debate.
DR FOSKEY: I believe we have all been debating the amendment since the second speaker moved it. First of all, I want to disabuse both Mr Hargreaves and Mr Stanhope of the idea that the Greens naively believe that the ACT can follow all the provisions of the Kyoto protocol. That was never a part of my motion; therefore, that is one part of Mr Hargreaves’s amendment that I can support. However, at the last count 300 municipalities in the US had adopted those targets. There is no doubt that these commitments could be deepened. It would have been rather good if we had seen an amendment that actually did stress our commitment and deepen it.
Unfortunately, Mr Hargreaves constantly takes a line of abuse when he is addressing issues that I raise in the Assembly. I know it is very personal abuse, but I do not take it personally. I think that people who observe the Assembly when such speeches are made walk away very disappointed in how we behave here. The abuse often indicates a lack of knowledge about the issue. It is the only possible excuse for it. I would not like to think that Mr Hargreaves is as nasty in all his relationships as he comes across here.
Mr Hargreaves suggested that I did not praise the government. I have only 15 minutes to speak to my motion; I do not believe that I can afford to waste time repeating the list of the things that the government has done—the list that I have heard over and over again in this place. It is a very short list; I have heard it many times and I was quite well aware that it would be mentioned by the government.
The big concern, of course, and the one that the amendment does not address, is the lack of a climate crisis strategy. It is not enough to assure the Assembly and the community that we are getting it soon. I used to say “soon” to my small children when they would ask, “When is dinner?” and I did not even know what we were cooking. “Soon” is not a particularly impressive answer.
The way Mr Hargreaves descends to personal abuse demeans his role as minister. I believe it earns the community’s disrespect. I have not heard any addressing of the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .