Page 2181 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
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MR COLLAERY (5.06): Mr Speaker, this is another rushed amendment to a Bill which has not, as my colleague Mr Kaine indicates, been presented in adequate fashion for adequate consultation with industry.
The Rally has been placed in the most difficult position of knowing that revenue may suffer at a time when preschool closures are occurring and not knowing substantively and definitively whether the arguments on both sides are correct. On balance, the Rally has decided to support this amendment and the other amendments because it is this Chief Minister who will carry the responsibility, from this afternoon henceforth, to explain these amendments and this Bill to the public at large, including the business community.
The Rally takes the view that, if this or any amendment is shown to have caused undue hardship in the community, then the Chief Minister will have that to explain. Further, the Chief Minister will certainly need to ensure that, in future, Bills of this nature come forward in a better fashion and with better consultation.
MR STEVENSON (5.07): Mr Speaker, the fact that there was a meeting called this morning by the Government to explain to representatives of the business community something about this Bill and that some amendments were made as a result of that is a clear indication that there was not justification for that and fair consultation on the matter.
There are any number of major business organisations in this town, and we should really look at this. What are we? Are we a government that rams things down people's throats or are we a government that has consultation? Are we prepared to allow people to consult when they say they have fair concern - and business organisations in this town have said they have fair concern? Letters have been sent to every member in this Assembly. Are we prepared to consult or, as Mr Kaine well puts it, rush in some amendment off the back foot that has not been explained correctly even to members of this Assembly, let alone to people in the business community.
They were not consulted correctly in the first place. It was suggested that it was mentioned in the budget papers with words like "clarifying". "Clarify" does not cover some of the fairly sweeping changes that are included within this Bill. This not only covers loopholes, but it drags into a far wider net many more businesses. While there may be a discretion of the commissioner, there is some concern with these discretionary powers.
The Chief Minister may look puzzled but perhaps, if there were more consultation with the business community, she would not have the puzzlement that she demonstrates on her face and she would understand the concerns of big business and small business in this town.
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