Page 3002 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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Then there is the percent for arts scheme, a poorly targeted scheme that could have done much more for the arts community but for Mr Stanhope’s arrogance and his aversion, perhaps even allergy, to the concept of community consultation. There was no openness here, no honesty and no accountability. There is the story of the centenary art project, shut down on a whim, and taking the short-listed artists completely by surprise. At least one of them only heard of the cessation of the project from the media. This is not a government that deals openly, honestly with people. It was an insult to the artists and an insult to their work.
There is the bush healing farm, shrouded in secrecy. Initially this project took on the spectre of being a pet project of the Chief Minister when, without consultation even with their own stakeholders, he put forward Kama as the preferred site for the farm. When he was soundly rebutted on this, there was a casting around for other sites. The selection of Miowera has presented problems for the government. This has been highlighted by the freedom of information documents which have come to the ACT opposition. The fact that some of those documents that were obtained under freedom of information have been obtained elsewhere shows the complete abuse of the Freedom of Information Act in relation to the bush healing farm at Miowera. Like many other projects of the Stanhope-Gallagher government, it is just another example of lack of planning, lack of public consultation and lack of ideology.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for Disability and Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Corrections) (4.04): Madam Assistant Speaker Le Couteur, I am delighted to see you in the chair. I welcome the opportunity to speak today on this matter of public importance. It was only last week in this place that we considered a very similar issue and reflected that openness, honesty and accountability have been the cornerstones of this government’s approach leading into the 2008 election and in its dealings with the ACT community thereafter. The people of Canberra have expressed their faith in our approach and our policies and we have a mandate to get on with the job of implementing those policies. Establishing government following the last election, this government signed a parliamentary agreement with the ACT Greens, as you well know.
A major element of that agreement relates to reforms to the parliamentary system, and we believe that the implementation of these reforms contributes to even more open and accountable government. We have been determined to implement these reforms in the shortest possible time, and in this regard I suggest that our record speaks for itself. In total, there were 44 commitments on parliamentary reform agreed to on 31 October 2008. By 16 February 2009, less than four short months later, we had implemented 20 of them in full. While the government’s current record on openness, honesty and accountability is plain to see, our commitment and adherence to these principles is something we have been focused on for some time. Our government is open and accountable, but we do not limit that openness and accountability to the members of this Assembly. As should be, we consider ourselves to be ultimately accountable to the people of the ACT.
There are a range of practical manifestations of this government’s commitment to openness and accountability which I would like to speak about, particularly in its
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