October 2007

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today and join in your discussions.
 
When I was elected to Parliament in 1994, the term “infrastructure” was not in wide public usage - but today thirteen years later, everyone has occasion to talk about infrastructure. The public generally knows the term covers all aspects of our built environment from roads, rail, schools and hospitals through to critical behind the scenes infrastructure such as water and electricity networks.

Legislative Assembly 16th November 2007

Mr PETER DEBNAM (Vaucluse) [4.05 p.m.]: I have to ask again, as I asked before, who wrote that speech? The member for Maroubra makes his office available to the bureaucrats. Walt Secord is running around Australia but he is still writing his speeches. Delivering speeches like that is the reason for the 7.4 per cent swing against him. That is his problem.

Mr PETER DEBNAM(Vaucluse) [4.05 p.m.]: One has to ask: Who wrote that speech? Another new member of Parliament takes a speech written by some bureaucrat in the background, or by Walt Secord, and reads it out. He was a police prosecutor. Did he ever do is own work or did he just reads this rubbish?

Mr PETER DEBNAM (Vaucluse) [12.38 p.m.]: It was interesting to listen to the contribution by the member for Newcastle, who is obviously well accustomed to reading things that other people write. If the member wants to walk into the Chamber and talk on an issue that touches a raw nerve in the community, such as policing and crime, I will give her one piece of advice: Do not read what the Government gives you!

Mr PETER DEBNAM(Vaucluse) [11.00 a.m.]: I congratulate the member for Cronulla on his contribution, during which he made a number of points the Government needs to be reminded of. On election night I said to Morris Iemma, the member for Lakemba and the part-time Premier, that if he picked up our policies we would applaud him. We had set out a policy framework that would address many of the problems in New South Wales.