Page 1937 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
On this alone, the Chief Minister should not only resign but he should resign from the ALP, because he has failed not only the people of Canberra but even his own party’s ideals. He has failed to uphold every single one of the ALP’s platform principles, ethics and morals which form the basis of his party’s stance on good governance in the territory.
There are four elements of governance that this Stanhope Labor government has treated with contempt and which form the basis of this no-confidence motion. Before I discuss those elements, it is important to reiterate that the Liberal Party’s position on the gas-fired power station and data centre is quite clear. As my colleagues have said, we actually support the $2 million investment in the facility. We see this as one of the most important infrastructure developments in the history of Canberra, even surpassing the construction of new Parliament House over 20 years ago. It is a facility that would create jobs, present incredible export opportunities and contribute to the broader economic and business base of the territory. In other words, it is a good project for Canberra.
The community refused to be kept in the dark here in relation to this particular project. The concerns that we hold in relation to this project do not actually go to the project itself; they go to things like the location of the facility, how the decision for that location came about, and the involvement of this government and its ministers in that particular process. The incompetence of this government in the process of the site selection for this project is no more clearly evidenced than in one solitary outcome—the very considerable community backlash it created. Exactly why there was such a strong and concerted backlash against the location of this project is simple—this government has failed the four key elements of good governance, and the first relates to accountability.
In bringing on this motion of no confidence, our democracy demands that we hold this Chief Minister and his government to account. Indeed, the community itself has largely done this, and it was done because this Stanhope Labor government was giving the community the mushroom treatment. It was kept in the dark and fed on you-know-what, Mr Speaker.
Mrs Dunne: Fertiliser.
MR STEFANIAK: Fertiliser, thank you, Mrs Dunne. The community refused to be kept in the dark, however, and that is why it spoke out so vehemently, and that is why the government had to respond. That is why the government had to placate the community, for example, by announcing the health impact study. Through the estimates committee, the Assembly has been treated in the same way. This treatment has been even worse than that of the community. Sifting through the Chief Minister’s evidence reveals confusion, a lack of knowledge, denials, guesses, shifting of blame and contradictory statements. All of these were designed as an attempt to throw the committee off the scent.
Even something as basic as the time allocation for his recall appearance on 16 June before the estimates committee was the subject of confusion. Not only was the Chief Minister confused about it but he carried on about it ad nauseam, wasting a
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .