Page 3174 - Week 15 - Thursday, 14 December 1989
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Finally, Mr Speaker, there was Mr Whalan's reference to the nine ministries. He will know that there are not nine ministries if he has read the information that I put out this morning. If he stopped suffering from and listening to his own delusions and listened to what we say, instead of what he dreams up, he would know that there is no truth to it whatsoever. In terms of individual offices, there will only be the individual offices that people sit in, in this building. They will not have individual offices, I say to the deputy leader of the Opposition, in Tuggeranong. I think he knows what I mean without any further elaboration.
Mr Whalan's distortions are so absurd that they do nothing but make him look foolish. He really does need to wake up to himself and settle down to do some reasonable work in this Assembly.
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (12.46): Mr Speaker, the motion that we have before us is to adjourn the Assembly until 13 February. There are a couple of things that I would like to say about it to underline the significance of this act by the Government. First of all it, in effect, postpones the fateful hour when this Government must face its critics. They have managed to skate through in the past couple of weeks without a question time, without a matter of public importance being able to be put up, and indeed without any private members' business, but they will not be able to do so forever.
Sooner or later they are going to have to account for themselves. Of course, Mr Speaker, they seek to do it as late as possible, preferably next year. I have no doubt they would put it off till the year after if they could, but it is 13 February next year. I say, as I said in the first debate this morning, that all members of this Assembly have rights. The rights of private members are as legitimate as your rights in government. The rights of members to ask questions of Ministers are legitimate, and sooner or later, as I say, Mr Speaker, this Government will have to face the fact that we on this side will be seeking to exercise our rights. They cannot postpone it indefinitely. They should have got on with it already.
Mr Speaker, there is a further consequence of this adjournment that has been moved by the Government although I do recognise that they need some breathing space to organise what at this point is an extremely disorganised and ramshackle government. I am prepared to give them some breathing space, but I think three months is frankly a bit over the odds. By going away until February next year they are assuming that the Assembly has very little business to do. I hope that they will also take full responsibility for the impact of this decision.
I speak in particular of the impact upon the budget. The Liberal coalition Government has inherited a balanced budget and a budget which represents a responsible approach
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