Falklands : Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Mr Ian Hansen:
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 31.10.2012 (Article Archived on 14.11.2012)
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment; I think two things in particular seem to be the reason for phone calls recently.
Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Mr Ian Hansen:
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment; I think two things in particular seem to be the reason for phone calls recently. One is the proposed designation of roads and Camp tracks and the other seems to be the growing reports of inappropriate behaviour by visitors from Argentina.
On the later issue it seems to me we have to tolerate these unseemly actions such as flag unfurling and which we constantly remind visitors they should not do as it creates a lot of unease in our community and amongst our people. And at some point I think it will undoubtedly cause a serious incident. I do wonder if to eradicate this behaviour we have to set an example and enforce what we preach at some point.
Moving on to the designation of roads or Camp tracks – before I get on to this issue I would just like to at this point to congratulate and thank the graders on West Falkland for the excellent job they are doing this season and are still doing and well done to them.
I do not know if other Members of this Assembly intend to speak on the designation of Camp tracks so I will be as brief as possible. My views remain unchanged. I believe until vehicle taxes decrease or are even abolished and until insurance is properly sorted, signage or before any designation is possible these things have to be agreed on in a sensible and realistic manner.
There are those who rightly say that a lot of East Falkland manages but sometimes in the winter, given the state of our designated roads, I sometimes feel slightly embarrassed to be part of a government that actually charges people to drive on these roads and frankly perhaps we should be paying them for the use of the system.
The Honourable Jan Cheek and I, of course, have not long returned from the Party Conferences. We got excellent support from all three political parties and their members. I think the main things they asked about in no particular order included, oil, exploitation and exploration, the referendum and Argentina. The Argentine government was described as from slightly eccentric and puzzling to totally mad.
We are a year away from our general election and there will be discussions in the middle of November between MLAs and others on remuneration and responsibilities for the future. While not wishing in any way to deter any potential candidates, at the end of this month I will have spent the grand total of 4.5 days at home on my farm and that’s not the ideal way to run a business. So I do believe we have to address the future role of MLAs and equally importantly, including the criteria of who is eligible to stand from the Falkland Island(s’) Government.
And finally, Mr Speaker, I would like to welcome the Chief of Staff, Group Captain Stephen Ward to this Assembly.
I beg to support the Motion.
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