Page 1096 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 8 April 2008

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economy on a sustainable footing. It simply squibbed the hard decisions, did not actually get the economy under control, did not get the balance sheet under control and did not actually manage or budget or prepare the economy to actually weather the ups and the downs.

We have come through a period of unprecedented growth. We are still experiencing the benefits of that. We have an incredibly strong economy. Look around outside. Ask the people in the street and the business community what they are thinking. Ask the business community of this place what they think about their experience of the last six years and the way in which the territory has been managed by this government. I will tell you now that they will point straight to the 250 Club and the Liberal Party as a reason why they have abandoned all faith in that mob—

MR SPEAKER: Come back to the subject matter of the question.

MR STANHOPE: It is because of the comparison between the two parties in government and our achievements as against theirs.

Gungahlin Drive extension

MR GENTLEMAN: My question is to the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services. Can the minister inform members what the recent completion of the Gungahlin Drive project delivers for the people of Canberra?

Opposition members interjecting—

MR HARGREAVES: Bong, bong, bong, bong! You lot are like little clowns at the circus. I thank Mr Gentleman for the question and his abiding interest in things to do with public transport in the ACT.

Yesterday marked the completion of this project, when I formally opened the last stages of the road for public use. The opening of the GDE for public use fulfils the commitment of the Stanhope government to the people of Gungahlin to connect them to the rest of Canberra with a direct road link from the Barton Highway to the Tuggeranong Parkway.

There are links from that north-south spine to all areas of the territory: Belconnen, Canberra north, Civic, Woden and the new suburbs of Molonglo when they are built. Indeed, they can take you door to door. In fact, we can go into our electorates, where we live! Except for some of them across there that do not live in their electorates—some of them will even move from their electorates; they will move further away from their electorates. The Leader of the Opposition moved further away from his electorate. How do you like that?

This is concrete evidence that this is a government that gets on with the job of building a city and territory for the future. This has been the biggest road-building project since self-government. Now that it is completed, we are not wasting time looking back; we are getting on with the next job: roadworks in Pialligo and around the airport. The Stanhope government has met the time frame for completion of the


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