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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

ACT QT: Burch enjoys moment in sun

Sweet relief, today the Canberra Liberals resumed their regular unabashed hecking of the Government during Question Time.

With things in their natural order, it was time for Mininster for childcare and public housing, Joy Burch, to enjoy her moment in the Opposition’s spotlight.

Totally ignoring Treasurer Katy Gallagher on this fine winter Thursday, the Canberra Liberals today took to Burch with a meat axe, successfully getting her to admit fault back on August 19 over her comments alluding to the completion of the Macquarie flats.

“If you take this place seriously, you would want to correct the record ASAP,” Opposition Leader Zed Seselja said this morning, delivering a censure motion with Burch’s name on it.

It didn’t pass, but the message was loud and clear: Burch better make sure she knows her portfolio back-to-front or be prepared to take questions on notice.

In the afternoon QT Burch got a royal flush, a question from each member of the Opposition, pulling up some public housing issues but also going into some serious depth over the procurement process for kinship carer support programs.

While it’s not clear where they’re going with this, it’s good to see the Liberals diversifying their targets. Vicki Dunne has had Burch in her sights for some time now over childcare, telling the Assembly that it was the single-most important issue for young Canberrans next to housing affordability.

Meanwhile the Greens got stuck into Andrew Barr over relief teachers and the possible destruction of mountain bike paths for the Majura Parkway.

Simon Corbell had a lovely speech prepared for the new carbon emissions reduction target of 40 per cent by 2020 and Mary Porter asked all the right Dorothy Dixers.

The next sitting week for the Legislative Assembly will be in September, and who knows, we might even have a Federal Government by then.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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