Page 1186 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 August 1989
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acknowledge the contribution of the Liberal Party in respect of the casino. It has consistently failed to do that. If it had spent a quarter of the time it spends attacking the Residents Rally for its opposition to the casino in acknowledging that this achievement has been a multiparty achievement, not just so far as the Liberal Party is concerned but also so far as the No Self Government Party is concerned, it might have made a little more headway in showing that this is an important cross-party decision which deserves credit across the board.
The open and consultative promise made by this Government at many points is still a matter of some contention. Again and again we have heard this Government say that it is engaging in open and consultative processes, particularly as far as its budget is concerned. Let me remind the Government of one thing: the point of parliamentary democracy is that it establishes a consultative process within the parliament itself, that it establishes the procedures within the parliament for the actions of the government to be scrutinised by an opposition, an opposition which is provided with the means and the wherewithal to sit down and face the government's actions, to criticise where they deserve criticism, and to engage in a process of ensuring the government is kept on the straight and narrow.
It cannot do that, it cannot be strong and effective, unless it is provided with adequate resources. And what have we seen from this Government? We have seen a deliberate denial of the sorts of resources that the opposition really needs to carry out its job properly. I invite the members of the Government to come and have a look upstairs. Upstairs in the Liberal Party area we still have 12 people sharing one word processor - 12 people on one word processor. How many word processors are they using upstairs in the Government's area? A lot more than that, I suspect. A lot more than that, a much higher ratio.
My friend Mr Stevenson has already made reference to the problems that he is facing.
Mrs Nolan: What about the phones?
MR HUMPHRIES: My friend Mrs Nolan reminds me about the phones. There is no proper phone system providing for transferability of calls from one phone to another. I will bet that the Government has complete transferability of phone calls from one phone to another. We are not able to get proper letterhead or stationery that describes who we are; we are not able to get a whole series of other simple items by which we can do our job effectively. The Government is not interested in that because - - -
Mr Kaine: Or even signposting in the building.
MR HUMPHRIES: Even proper signposting in the building. The Government is not interested in providing for a strong and effective opposition because it does not want to engage in
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