Page 60 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2010
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Mr Hanson: I will have by close of business.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, a supplementary question?
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. My supplementary is this: minister, do you support the status quo in Calvary arrangements continuing?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Mr Hargreaves for the question. No, the government does not support the status quo arrangements continuing. Indeed, no-one does that I can recall—apart from the Liberals. The Liberals are the only supporters of the status quo arrangements.
Mr Hanson: Sinclair Davidson, Terry Dwyer, Andrew Podger, RS Gilbert.
MS GALLAGHER: Even the strongest opponents—
Mr Hanson: Wait to see what Tony Harris has to say.
MS GALLAGHER: Even the strongest opponents—
Mr Hanson: If Tony Harris supports it, you will just—
MS GALLAGHER: Even the strongest opponent of the proposal proceeding, the archbishop in this instance, does not support the status quo continuing. The Liberals again are in that hole that they have dug for themselves. It is a very lonely old hole; there is only them down there. When they were digging their hole, they did not put in little steps for a ladder to get out with, which most people do because they do not—
Mr Seselja: You’re looking like you’re in a hole, Katy.
MS GALLAGHER: Most people, when they are getting into the hole, do have the foresight to think about getting out of the hole. Even the archbishop does not support the status quo. The little Liberal think-tank, the little boys club, need to go away and have another little strategy session: “Oops, we got that wrong; we’ll need to have another think about what our position on Calvary actually is.”
There is no support for the status quo continuing. We do not support it, and the status quo will not continue. But guess what: the arrangements have been in place for 40 years. The events over the weekend ensured that they will be in place for the next 61 years. So we have a little bit of time to work our way through the issues.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Bresnan, a supplementary question?
MS BRESNAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Given it was acknowledged that the Vatican processes could lead to the sale of Calvary not going ahead, were other options considered or developed?
MS GALLAGHER: As I said in response to Mrs Dunne’s question, yes, a whole range of other options have been considered over a number of years and there has not
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