Page 1949 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 24 October 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
it should happen here. There is no reason why it should not happen here. I will be interested to see whether the Chief Minister has any reasons as to why it should not happen here.
There was one reason she did give in last Thursday's comments. She said that the Government's program was confidential; because private members' business is confidential, therefore government legislation should be confidential as well. What a tawdry argument! That legislation is public legislation. It is information affecting the lives of every citizen of this Territory, in some cases.
They ought to have more notice of it than they get and there is no reason why they should not have that advance notice. You, Chief Minister, have abrogated principles on which you went to the electorate, which you even today espouse - that you are open and consultative. You are not, unless you agree to support the motion to be moved at the end of this discussion.
I might mention also at this stage that I am disappointed that the Government seems to think that the legislative program on a daily basis or a weekly basis is sufficient. It certainly is not. I again refer to other places. The Senate receives, usually five or six days before the beginning of each parliamentary week, a draft parliamentary program setting out details of legislation to be dealt with, even the times the Government expects legislation to be actually dealt with in that chamber. Why, again, can we not have that here? What is the problem? What is the reason for the confidentiality? What is confidential about an optometrists Bill? What is confidential about a public trustees Bill? (Extension of time granted)
I am deeply saddened by the Government's intransigence on this matter and I seek to move the Government by moving the motion I foreshadowed a moment ago and by raising this issue in this matter of public importance today. I want to repeat the comments of the Chief Minister from last week. She said, in talking about the practice of not revealing details of private members' Bills until they have actually been introduced into the chamber:
Consistent with this practice, the precise details of the Government's own legislative program also remain confidential.
I ask again: what is the reason for this tawdry, cowardly and deceitful practice? What is the reason? Why is it necessary to keep those Bills secret? Why does the Government want secrecy about a Bill to amend the provision of advertising by optometrists? What is the reason, Chief Minister, for that kind of secrecy? I would dearly like to hear an explanation of that. The program of this week and last week in this chamber, legislatively speaking, is in a shambles.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .