Page 36 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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MR BARR: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition raised the subject of credibility in his presentation. He is seeking to censure the Chief Minister and me, perhaps the second-highest sanction that is possible in this place. Throughout his contribution, in which he could not even keep on the subject of the censure motion, he felt the need to range widely over a number of areas that have been debated ad nauseam in this place. I think it is only fair and just to mention the substantive issue of Mr Seselja’s incompetence and inability to manage the only thing that he has responsibility for. This is the man who wishes to manage the territory but who cannot even manage his own office, in spite of repeated advice on where he was going wrong.
That is the fundamental flaw in the heart of every argument from the Leader of the Opposition this year: if you cannot govern yourself, how can you govern this territory? That is the question that will be asked of Mr Seselja repeatedly, and all the evidence is there on the table that he has manifestly failed.
I am not the only person who has drawn that conclusion. Every media outlet in the last week has raised that exact question.
Mr Hanson: Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance.
MR SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr Hanson: Mr Smyth has already pointed out that Mr Barr is yet to refer to the substance of the motion before the Assembly. I ask that you instruct the minister to be directly relevant.
MR SPEAKER: Minister, I think it would be good if we came to the motion, thank you.
MR BARR: Thank you, Mr Speaker. In relation to the censure motion, the Leader of the Opposition has made a number of baseless allegations in his speech. It is not the first time he has raised those baseless allegations; members would be aware that we have debated this issue on a number of occasions in the Assembly. I have been very clear in relation to the government’s response on each of those occasions.
I need to remind members that on 13 August last year I indicated that the government would market test new office accommodation in Gungahlin and Civic. I said in August last year that the government’s immediate priority would be the delivery of the Gungahlin project and that we would shortly invite organisations to register their interest. I note that the Leader of the Opposition is so interested in his censure motion that he has now left the chamber.
I indicated that the government’s immediate priority was the delivery of the Gungahlin project and that we would invite organisations to register their interest in designing and building the office block proposed for Gungahlin, as well as the one proposed for the city, to the specifications established by our consulting team. This is important, because the idea that the government would go to the marketplace without specifications, as the Leader of the Opposition has suggested in his contribution this
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