Page 2391 - Week 11 - Thursday, 2 November 1989
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Once again, it is certainly for Ministers but unfortunately not for members. At the bottom of the page it said:
In line with my commitment to openness and in consultation ... As part of these consultations, I am also writing to you, Mr Speaker, outlining the consultation process that will commence shortly and inviting the involvement of members.
Unfortunately, if there was any consultative process it was certainly not valid.
Let us have a look at the situation. Rather than a Bill that would assist all members in a general way, there were specific provisions in there that would benefit only the Ministers. But that was not stated in the introduction to the Bill. In fact, the opposite was stated and that was never correct. I think that is a sad situation.
The Chief Minister mentioned "amicable arrangements". I personally have been trying to gain an amicable, sensible arrangement on this matter for some three months - that all members of this Assembly, not just those in the Government, be allowed the opportunities that were presented by the Chief Minister in her Bill. All I ever sought to achieve was that what was outlined in the Chief Minister's presentation speech be actually brought about. Her current amendment is a back down.
Let us have a look at the value of consultants to all members. Obviously a large staff can have various multidisciplinary experts. We are a very small Assembly and we have small staff numbers. It is hard to cover the range of expertise that we need. Consultants can obviously do specific project tasks quickly, such as computer research, support, market research, et cetera, that our normal, day-to-day, full-time, regular staff cannot do. One thing that consultants can do very well is operate outside Canberra - in Sydney, Melbourne or wherever - if there are jobs that we need to have done in those areas. Certainly a staff member could be sent, but that involves travelling, accommodation allowances, et cetera.
Some expertise is simply not available in a staff member, certainly not with the minimum number that most of us have. From time to time there is need for such things as legal advice. I think this debate will highlight the need for drafting advice. Indeed, we need drafting advice, and nobody is going to do that for nothing. As I have not been able to obtain it through the Assembly, it needs to be obtained from other sources. That is not a staff member; that is a consultancy basis. Rather than put on and put off part-time staff, members in the Assembly should have the freedom of choice to use their budget allocation to so benefit the electorate and be optimally effective.
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