Page 40 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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parliaments do not? The answer, quite obviously, Mr Speaker, is that this Assembly is constituted differently from other parliaments and that we are setting many precedents. No other Australian parliament elects the Leader of the Government yet we elect the Chief Minister. That election is provided for in the self-government legislation.
The precedents in other parliaments all relate to situations where one group or coalition commands the majority and forms the government. The government is usually opposed by another group or coalition who form the opposition and elect the opposition leader.
The situation in this Assembly, as members know, is very different. It is not so clear-cut. There is more than one group opposing the Government. What could be more appropriate, having elected a government, than to have all the non-government members vote for the opposition leader? Mr Collaery has totally failed to outline any alternative means of recognising an opposition in its place.
Finally let me ask Mr Collaery a question, if he will listen. If he believes the election of the Opposition Leader to be illegal, unconstitutional or improper, why was he a candidate? You cannot play in the game and then blame the rules afterwards for the fact that you lost.
The Government rejects Mr Collaery's assertions on the grounds that the Assembly is the only body with the power to determine which party should be the official Opposition, and the Assembly, by virtue of its representative nature, is the only body democratically qualified to do so.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.34): As the object of this debate, I feel it a little incongruous that I should sit here as though I am not part of it and let the debate rage on around me. I am not very impressed by the fact that the matter is being put forward as a matter of public importance anyway, to be quite frank with you.
Mr Collaery: Surprise, surprise!
MR KAINE: We have got some clowns who think that is funny. They do not want me to laugh when they speak, but they think that it is funny when I speak. They will learn over the next three years.
Mr Collaery: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, I think I was referred to as a clown. I have not taken on that role yet. I ask that the Liberal leader withdraw that aspersion, because I have not called him that yet.
MR KAINE: I withdraw the remark, but he is a rather humorous person, Mr Speaker. The fact is that this matter is not a matter of public importance; it is a matter of importance only to Mr Collaery. Since the election for the Leader of the Opposition, which was some 13 days ago, I
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