Page 1670 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 4 May 2010
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It is important that we scrutinise what is going on in our prison. These people are vulnerable in the sense that they need advocates. The Official Visitor is another person who is there to ensure that their welfare is monitored. We believe that this independent reviewer is an important step forward. As I said, we know that there are a number of community organisations, as well as the Auditor-General and the human rights commissioner, that are pleased that this is going ahead. They have said that they are happy with the process. I would urge members of the Assembly to also engage in that process. At the end of the day we are going to have to look clearly at those recommendations.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.49): I seek leave to table the email that I referred to in my speech earlier today.
Leave granted.
MS BRESNAN: I table the following paper:
Alexander Maconochie Centre—Copy of email to Mr Rattenbury and Ms Le Couteur from a constituent, dated 13 April 2010.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (11.50), in reply: I look forward to reading that email. Firstly, I will just turn to the Greens’ approach to this. Thank you for your advice to seek a briefing, Ms Hunter. In fact, I had one on Monday from the head of ACT corrections. So while you are sitting there on your moral high horse telling me that I should have had a briefing and telling me about the process to get a briefing, I indeed had a briefing on Monday from the head of ACT corrections and ministerial staff. It is something that I do regularly. If you think that you are on your own in getting ministerial briefings, then you are out there even further than I thought you were.
What we have seen from the Greens again, though, is support for their political masters. I am happy to ask it on the record in Hansard: what are you getting for your continued support of Simon Corbell? What little tidbits are you getting in the budget? What extra ministerial staffing did you receive when you did your Greens-Labor agreement? It is quite clear—everybody in the community knows—that you get things from the government for giving them ongoing support. That is the way it works. The Greens-Labor agreement actually writes that in black and white and says that is the way it works.
The ongoing support of Minister Corbell by you is at a cost to the community. You get your benefits from supporting this government; there is no question. You get the Speaker’s chair, you get extra staff allowances, you get your Greens’ projects, you get extra bubblers in Civic, whatever it might be. There is no question that you are getting extra little things for supporting the government. One of those bits of support, quite clearly, is refusing to hold ministers to account. We have repeatedly brought forward concerns—whether it be through motions of censure or some other forum—when Minister Corbell is misleading, and again and again we see the Greens supporting him.
It is quite clear that there is one party holding this government to account, and that is the ACT Liberals. The Canberra Liberals are holding the government to account, and
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