Page 1068 - Week 06 - Thursday, 27 July 1989
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Has the Deputy Chief Minister made similar comments in relation to the Trades and Labour Council's intervention into the demonstrations that were held outside this Assembly on two occasions by that body, and also the BWIU and their contributions to the debate, which surely must be far less relevant than that of the Tuggeranong Community Council, which has a real problem with law and order in the Tuggeranong Valley.
A member: Good question.
MR WHALAN: That is a very good question and I am very grateful to Mr Stefaniak for providing me with the opportunity to respond. In relation to the Tuggeranong Community Council, my comments about the council were not spontaneous. They followed an approach that I had from two organisations that are affiliated with the Tuggeranong Community Council who were very offended by the stand taken by the council and by the chairman of the council in taking it upon himself to appear before the committee on the move-on powers.
A member: Would you like to put some names to those organisations, Mr Whalan?
MR WHALAN: I will come back to you. The situation is that they were embarrassed by the Tuggeranong Community Council being manipulated in this political way to come out in support of these draconian proposals. Particularly of concern was the fact that any decision that was made was made at a meeting of the Tuggeranong Community Council attended by only six persons and that among those six persons was a visiting policeman, who presumably had reported on this question of the move-on powers.
So it is a matter of concern that an organisation such as this, which purports to represent a range of community groups and bring together a range of community groups, does at such a minute meeting, without any notice that this matter is going to be on the agenda, discuss it and seek to make a conclusion on a party political matter of this sort. I would urge the council in future, when it seeks to - - -
Mr Kaine: To support the Labor Party view?
MR WHALAN: If they did that, then they would be a true community organisation.
MR STEFANIAK: I wish to ask a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. That seems to not accord with information I have, Deputy Chief Minister, so I would ask you firstly who those mysterious bodies were, and secondly whether you are aware of several unions affiliated with the Trades and Labour Council who support the move-on powers but who were not prepared to come out for fear of retribution by their parent body?
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