Page 2987 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 5 December 1989
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Tuesday, 5 December 1989
________________________
MR SPEAKER (Mr Prowse) took the chair at 2.30 pm and read the prayer.
RESOLUTION OF WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN CHIEF MINISTER
MR COLLAERY (2.30): Mr Speaker, I move:
That this Assembly no longer has confidence in the Chief Minister of the ACT and the minority Labor Government and has confidence in the ability of Mr Kaine to form a government.
Mr Speaker, this motion has its origins, its direct origins, in the evening of 22 November 1989 when we became aware for the first time, on viewing a television program, that the Government had sought to secure by persuasion the vote of the Speaker for the Business Franchise ("X" Videos) Bill.
Mr Speaker, on the morning of 23 November 1989 Mr Kaine and I resolved to visit your office to ascertain the substance of the report and you, Mr Speaker, informed Mr Kaine and me that it had been put to you by the Government that non-passage of the Bill could result in "funding difficulties with respect to current proposals before the Chief Minister, including proposals to establish the Bills committee, a committee which is sorely needed if this Assembly is to operate correctly".
Our conversation with you, Mr Speaker, was, as you will recall, quite formal and correct and, as you are aware, Mr Speaker, we did not draw our conclusions in your presence but took leave and went to our rooms. I summoned our Rally party president, Chris Donohue, and then called an emergency session of the Residents Rally executive, who include, among others, a member of the Australian National University Council and a former member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
In our view, the ALP approach to you, Mr Speaker, was a barely disguised threat. Any argument that all the ALP meant was that the loss of the video revenue could have funding implications for the Assembly is hollow. With the Treasurer's advance of $10m at her disposal, how could this Chief Minister contemplate allowing the Assembly's processes to wither? The answer is of course, Mr Speaker, a bullying threat, and the "holier than thou" statement by the Chief Minister on ABC radio this morning that she is "not in the business of buying votes" must be treated with the cynicism it deserves.
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