SOUTH DOWLING STREET CABBAGE TREE PALMS
The Hon. R. S. L. JONES: I ask the Treasurer, representing the Minister for Roads, whether the cabbage tree palms along South
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Dowling Street affected by the Eastern Distributor will be allowed to die, or will they be maintained and transplanted elsewhere?
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: Honourable members would be aware that last year I set an all- time record for the greatest number of questions answered in any Westminster Parliament in any country. But it appears to me that this year there is a conspiracy between my colleague the Minister for Community Services and the Opposition to make sure that that Minister takes the record from me. So I am grateful to the Hon. R. S. L. Jones for his important question about the cabbage tree palms along South Dowling Street. I have to say that this matter has nothing to do with my portfolio. On coming into office I learned after the first question time that one should not venture outside one’s portfolio. I got into big trouble not only from the Minister for Education and Training but also from the former Minister for Education, Mr Rodney Cavalier, when I supported the suggestion by the Hon. B. H. Vaughan that the University of Western Sydney should have its name changed to Chifley University.
The Hon. Virginia Chadwick: On a point of order. The University of Western Sydney legislation is before the House.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: The bill does not propose to change the name of that university. My colleague the Minister for Education and Training and my friend the former Minister for Education pointed out to me that my answer was very stupid because if the name were to be changed again it would mean that some graduates would have a degree from a university that no longer existed. So the real sin was committed by those people who changed the name in the first place from Chifley University to the University of Western Sydney. I am reluctant to venture outside my portfolio and say something about the cabbage tree palms along South Dowling Street. But I have to tell honourable members and the Minister for Roads, and the Roads and Traffic Authority, that I thought those cabbage tree palms were a stupid idea right from the start. I do not know whether they will be relocated somewhere, but it is ludicrous to drive down South Dowling Street and see those silly palms growing there. They have no place in South Dowling Street; they look completely out of place. They have been struggling to survive for the last three years and, no doubt, just as they have got used to the site I assume they will be taken out. I hope that they are not put back. I will convey this question to my colleague the Minister for Roads.
Reverend the Hon. F. J. Nile: They are not native.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: Precisely! They are certainly not native to South Dowling Street. No other cabbage tree palms have been planted or are growing anywhere near South Dowling Street.