Page 1244 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 August 1989
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from the Deputy Chief Minister's department or from the Territory Planning Authority had been provided they would have been able to provide their evidence in a much better and more forthright way.
Mr Speaker, it seems to me, because of those particular matters and those issues, Mr Whalan clearly is not able to have solid, strong access to his staff. He has clearly been misinformed, and I think it is appropriate that he should take the necessary action. He has not done so. This is not the first occasion on which this type of action has been referred to. The first time he did it to me directly.
Today an attempt was made to redress that matter, but once again I suggest that the sort of language and the attacks that Mr Whalan made on my personal integrity yesterday and on the integrity of a fine, upright citizen of this city are disgraceful and should not be tolerated. That, Mr Speaker, is the reason why I rose today on this particular matter, to seek to have the house censure the Deputy Chief Minister because of his outrageous and unparliamentary actions.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.22): This is an interesting time in the life of this new parliamentary body and I think that historians in the future will look at this as yet another stage in the development of this institution, because it raises the question of whether this institution is a truly Westminster-style parliamentary body or whether it is not. I would submit, Mr Speaker, that the validity of this censure motion rests on the assumption that this is a Westminster-style parliament and that there is, therefore, inherent in it the concept of ministerial responsibility which is part of the Westminster system.
We have had a great deal of debate over recent months about just what form this Assembly is going to take, and I think it is still evolving to some degree. So this will be a landmark in the development of this institution if it is to become truly a Westminster-style parliament.
The substance of the censure motion was not discussed with me beforehand. I think that the motion has to be divided into two parts, Mr Speaker. I think that the mover should consider whether or not the motion should be put as a total motion or whether it should be broken down and put in several parts. Although I understand Mr Jensen's feelings on the question, I submit that part (1) of his censure motion is not, in fact, the substance of a legitimate censure of a Minister or any other member of this Assembly.
Over the last four months of the life of this body, there has been a fair amount of cross-chat across the floor, some of it getting very personal. All kinds of words have been used. It is my observation that, after the event, when emotions have cooled a bit, that exchange has become somewhat of a joke between the parties concerned.
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