Page 2126 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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inspiration here; there is no inspiration. It is indicative of a system where the path to the top is predetermined by the factions. It is not unlike Julia Gillard’s rise to the top and her performance since then. You spend all your time getting to the top or floating to the top, but when you get there you have got absolutely no idea about what to do. This is a document that says, “I’ve got no idea of what to do now that I’m the Chief Minister.”
It is interesting that Mr Seselja pointed out the last of the measures of achievement against “a robust local economy and a balanced tax system”—complete remission framework for lease variation charge December 2011. I thought we were debating that this week. I thought we were going to debate this bill, but we do not know what is in it because we are not going to get the framework until December 2011. How can anyone come into this place and ask this Assembly to pass something when we do not even know what the framework will be and we will not get that framework for remission until December 2011? That is just appalling.
Let me go to another area in my portfolios, “continued improvement in public safety”. We have the emergency services station relocation project as a priority. They have had a report on that since 2008; we are now in 2011. And what is the measure of achievement? “We will have a plan for improved coverage around emergency services station locations. We will have a plan.” So we are going to take another year to get a plan. No action, but we will have a plan. They had the final report in August 2008, and sometime in 2012 we will get the plan. That is appalling. This is not a vision for a city. This is at best—at absolute best—business as usual.
What do we see taken out of these priorities? You have got to give Jon Stanhope his due: whether you agree with him or not, Jon Stanhope at least had zeal for issues, things like human rights and things that he liked to push. We just do not see any zeal in this document at all. It is unfortunate, because people are depending on this Chief Minister to lead her government, to make decisions for this city over the next 70 weeks until the election. They are not going to get much joy out of this.
There are some interesting admissions in this document. Again, I go to “continued improvement in public safety”. One of the measures of achievement to improve public safety is improved governance of corrections services, including at Alexander Maconochie Centre and at Bimberi. What we have here now is a clear admission that this government has not administered these facilities to the standard that the public expect. Indeed, if they are going to improve public safety by improving governance, perhaps public safety has been put at risk by the maladministration of both the Alexander Maconochie Centre and Bimberi. This is a document that does not inspire.
One of the priorities is the Majura parkway, including federal government support. The measure of achievement will not be that we got the federal government support, not that we have started construction, not that we are delivering infrastructure for the people of the ACT—it will be Majura parkway, shovel-ready status. Shovel-ready status? We are being asked by this government to look at Majura parkway. They have got plans. There is a website. You can go to the website and view the plans. You can see the pictures; you can see the documents. But we are now going to try and get it shovel ready. This is just a business-as-usual document from a government that is out of touch and, I suspect, out of time.
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