Falklands : Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Mr Mike Summers MLA
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.08.2011 (Article Archived on 13.09.2011)
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I have a few things to touch on briefly. I was not really part of putting together the Referendum Bill and I have not spoken about it publically in the past. I am pleased to see it here.
Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Mr Mike Summers MLA:
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I have a few things to touch on briefly. I was not really part of putting together the Referendum Bill and I have not spoken about it publically in the past. I am pleased to see it here. I know it’s irritating to have very, very long Bills to deal with relatively short issues but it probably needs to be done. Actually I suspect we might need to use this provision at least two or three more times afterwards because if there is not an agreement on a single constituency then there probably will be requests for something else. But actually I am not a supporter of a single constituency and I don’t think it will make people in Camp better represented. But I do favour a readjustment of the numbers between Stanley and Camp to something like 6 and 2. And I have talked to a number of people about that, who think it might be a better way to go but we will see.
Many people have already talked about the Import Substitution Programme and I am happy that’s now come through. It’s one of the processes and it will be advertised now from FIDC and people will then be able to take that up. I think I will be involved in that most of the way so if people are unclear about what’s happening with the Import Substitution Programme by all means give me a call and I will try to help. But it is an important attempt to come a little closer to self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is one of those nice, green, ideas that we have that are sometimes are not that altogether practical but I think in this particular case the growing of food stuffs in the Falklands is perfectly possible. We are a food producing nation, we always have been and that’s an important place to be in this difficult world.
And I hope in the next few weeks to be able to get some more meat on the bones of programmes from the Rural Development Strategy. We will be having a discussion next week about the high-level objectives and then hope to get to some high-level solutions which we don’t yet have. There are some important things to be done in Camp, some important concepts to be talked through and I think some important investments to be made to achieve the sort of objectives we are looking for.
I would like to associate myself with the remarks the Honourable Jan Cheek made about “Tim” Simpson. She’s not a lady that I knew but I am mightily impressed that everybody that I have met who did know her had a huge amount of respect for her and I think she will be hugely missed in this community. And the emotion that Jan showed in talking about her is testimony to the work that she did in this community.
A brief word about shipping and the new arrangements for shipping: The nice thing about this is that it’s not only just been put in place but it is that we will always find solutions for these sorts of problems and it doesn’t matter how many different problems that the neighbours or others try to throw at us. We will always find a solution. There’s always another way of doing things and we will always find them. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept that a certain service is not there anymore – we can’t ship to Punta – we can’t ship to here or to there. But there’s another way of doing it. And I think if there is a message from this to the other side, it is just, “open your eyes.” We are Islanders, we are resilient, we will always find another way. That’s how we’ve lived for the last two centuries and that’s how we will do for the next centuries and that’s how all Islanders cope with their lives. So try as you might, we will survive.
A quick word about transparency and consultation: I did raise the issue in a particular manner today. But it has been my experience over the years that this is one of the more difficult things for all councils to deal with. And I know that sometimes people don’t like the odd information that they think might have the wrong effect in the wrong places but we do ultimately have a responsibility to the public and to keep them informed about what’s going on. And I am very pleased that we are about to appoint our own public relations manager who can begin to manage the information – massive amounts of information that is available from the Government and that can be given to the public. And the solution to these things is never a single solution. It’s not just going on the radio, it’s not just putting it in the Penguin News, it’s not just almost ever putting it in the Gazette because nobody reads it. It always going to be a multiple of those things and very often you have to push information in front of people to get them to see it and to join in the discussion. But that’s our responsibility, that’s what we have to do.
Finally, I would just like to wish good luck to the two young ladies going to Commonwealth Youth Parliament shortly. I hope they will have a fantastic time. I know they will represent the Falklands really well. I would also like to wish good luck to our five competitors going to the Commonwealth Youth Games on the isle of Mann. And I know that they will do a really good job for us because I have already seen them doing it in Delhi and on the Isle of Weight. So I wish them very good fortune.
I support the Motion.
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