Page 2928 - Week 13 - Thursday, 23 November 1989
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MR BERRY: It has got to the stage, Mr Speaker, where the Liberal Party in opposition would seem to prefer to not only ask the question but answer it as well.
Mr Kaine: Well, we do better than you do.
Mr Humphries: That is right; we get some answers that way.
MR BERRY: What you would get, Mr Kaine, is the answer that would suit you, but you might not always get the truth unless, after telling yourself fibs for a long period, you believe the lie.
Differences of opinion arise from time to time, as they do anywhere. The issue of welfare and its provision is a sensitive one, and there are often concerns about the delivery of that service.
Mr Humphries: I didn't ask about that.
MR BERRY: I will throw that one in for free. What my department and the welfare department are on about is delivering services. When a question arises about the delivery of a service anybody who wishes to consult the agency does so, and welfare workers attempt to address the question.
Some of the issues currently being discussed between the two agencies stem from a lack of a clear role definition in the working of the Children's Services Act, the document to which Mr Duby referred just a moment ago. This lack of clarity in the wording of the Act is to be addressed by the Children's Services Council also, and I expect that it will do that at its next meeting, on 5 December. You might like to repeat the tail end of the question.
MR HUMPHRIES: Are you aware that they have been complaining about overallocation of resources - - -
Ms Follett: Stand up; answer the question, Gary.
MR HUMPHRIES: I would be happy to answer the question, Chief Minister, if I had the answer. Can the Minister confirm that welfare workers have long been complaining about the overallocation of welfare resources on administration rather than the actual delivery of welfare services?
MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, no.
Use of Contractors
MR STEFANIAK: My question is directed to the Minister for Housing and Urban Services. I refer the Minister to page 20 of the Estimates Committee report on the Appropriation Bill, where it refers to program 19, natural and cultural resources, use of contractors. At paragraph 6.9 it states:
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