Page 2824 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 22 November 1989
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of the Assembly for it so that we can get on with the real matter of dealing with the long-term planning problems of the Territory.
MR WHALAN (Deputy Chief Minister) (11.22): Mr Speaker, you and I will both be aware that the Leader of the Opposition was out of order in speaking to that motion, but I assume that you are not going to object to my speaking to the motion.
MR SPEAKER: Please proceed.
Mr Kaine: I will grant you leave, Paul.
MR WHALAN: I am not seeking your indulgence. I am seeking his indulgence, thanks, Trevor.
Mr Kaine: Well, I will grant it anyway. Since he would not grant it to me, I will be gracious.
MR WHALAN: But you did not even ask for it. You just talked without even seeking leave. The irony of the remarks which were made by the Leader of the Opposition in relation to this adjournment motion is that he suggested that the Deputy Chief Minister would be interested to hear what he had to say. That is precisely what I wanted to hear. Because of the application of the gag, which is the effect of this particular motion, we will not hear what the Leader of the Opposition has to say. That is the effect of it. We want to hear today what the Leader of the Opposition's views are on this excellent proposal by Mr Moore. It shows thoughtfulness on the part of Mr Moore and it shows a concern about and a commitment to the environment.
No amount of character assassination by the Residents Rally of Mr Moore will detract from the fact that Mr Moore has emerged as the environmental conscience of this Assembly. I respect his commitment and I respect the role that he wishes to play in that respect.
I would like to take up a comment made by the Leader of the Opposition, which was that, if the Government wanted to, it could proceed to set up some body such as this. If I had not been denied the opportunity to speak on this motion, I would have dealt at some length with what the Government feels about Mr Moore's motion and how we perceive that as an interim proposal, pending the completion and finalisation of the planning legislation. It is in that context that the Government would view this particular proposal.
Mr Moore never argued that it was going to be anything other than an interim proposal, as I understand it, because all the tasks which are set out here will ultimately be taken up by the legislation to be introduced, based on the planning proposals which are currently in distribution in the form of a draft discussion paper. That draft
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