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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

ACT QT: regaining composure

The last two sitting days have been utterly exhausting, what with all the fuss yesterday over the ALP/Greens Parliamentary Agreement and its implications in Question Time, the old QT itself didn’t even start until 4pm – two hours late.

When it did start the whole procedure seemed to lack oomf – the Liberal boys were noticably subdued. But they didn’t pick up today either, barely giving Speaker Shane Rattenbury a reason to admonish them – certainly not allowing Deputy Leader Katy Gallagher the pleasure of telling them where to go.

(She did call them a “gang of little boys”, but that’s pretty tame compared to the usual insults)

Someone on the floor blamed the presence of former Health Minister and CityNews columnist Michael Moore, but one would like to think that the eyes of an elder would not alter their behaviour so.

And the material presented was not lacking.

The Calvary Hospital deal is back on the agenda with Gallagher’s admission the Government had re-entered negotiations with Catholic healthcare provider Little Company of Mary. Gallagher refused to be drawn on the details – saying there are very few available. Today she agreed to table the information that exists to the Assembly by tomorrow.

School closures reared their ugly heads again and allowed some in the Assembly to indulge in a walk through history, while the Obstetrics Unit bullying review at Canberra Hospital retained some prominance.

Beyond budget allowances for construction, the impact of the Building the Education Revolution, underspend, overspend, the conflict of interest between the Government and the Labor Club via the pokies and energy efficiency ratings for buildings there was a lot of talk about how the parties compared on footpaths.

The Greens are busy pursuing the welfare of indigenous youth in ACT detention, industrial waste disposal and energy efficiency – which is funny because that’s exactly what Environment Minister Simon Corbell wanted to talk about.

The big Dorothy Dixer was a delightful romp through the world of ACTSmart and Monergy rebates (for more information see this week’s CityNews).

Let’s hope the kids buck up tomorrow and swing some punches without pushing the limits of your average attention span. it’s the last blast till Budget day on May 4.

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