Page 117 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 May 1989

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But that matter is a bit down the track. I think we should deal with ourselves first, as members of this Assembly. I therefore commend the motion to the Assembly. I present the following papers:

Explanatory notes

Statement of Registrable interests.

MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.17): Mr Speaker, we in the Liberal Party have no objection whatsoever to this kind of requirement. In fact, had I been sitting in the Chief Minister's chair we would have done exactly the same thing. Only one aspect of it bothers me a little, and that is the second part of the proposal, that such declarations be made available to any person on request.

Now, it seems strange to me that, because we happen to be elected members of this organisation, we have no element of privacy whatsoever. Personally I have no objection to persons wanting to know my financial situation; they are welcome to know it, because there is very little to it.

If somebody is going to come in and simply ask for information about my private affairs, I think there ought to be two aspects to it. Firstly he or she ought to have a good reason for wanting to know, and it should not be just anybody who walks in off the street and says, "We'd like to know something about Trevor Kaine". I think that is making it a bit too free and a bit too open. Secondly, I do not think that under any circumstances should the information be made available to anybody without my being aware that it has been done.

So I propose, Mr Speaker, the following amendment:

That the following words be added at the end of paragraph (2): "subject to the Member concerned being advised by the Speaker of the name of the person to whom the information is made available and the reasons why it has been requested, in each case".

I think that the least we can ask is that we should be aware of those matters.

Amendment agreed to.

MR JENSEN (3.19): I would like to support my leader, Mr Collaery, in relation to this matter, but I would like to just bring in one other issue, Mr Speaker, particularly in relation to the details and the information that is to be held in relation to the Ministers and, I would suggest, probably the senior members of the Administration.

It does not seem clear, Mr Speaker, who will be having access to this information that is to be held by the Chief Minister and on what basis that information will be made available to the members of the public. I would also

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