Page 518 - Week 02 - Thursday, 22 February 1990
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I accept Mr Wood's good faith in his statement and his motives in making it, but I think there is an implication that somehow the Executive - or that I, in particular - have directed that this move should occur. It should be clearly on the record that that is simply untrue. But having accepted the submission from the non-Executive members of the Government, I believe that we will work better together by being on the one floor. But there is nothing sinister and there is no ulterior motive in bringing that about.
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (5.06): Mr Speaker, I would like to speak on the same topic that Mr Wood and Mr Kaine have just addressed and I really think that Mr Kaine has missed the point entirely on this matter.
Mr Kaine: I have not missed anything.
MS FOLLETT: I believe that he has missed the point entirely on this matter. I think that the question that Mr Wood has raised goes to the heart of the nature and the role of the Executive Deputies. It is a role on which I am still confused and I imagine the vast majority of the Canberra community is still confused.
We have seen in this Assembly an Executive Deputy whom Mr Kaine has told us is responsible for advising his Minister. We have seen that Executive Deputy asking a question of that self-same Minister in question time. I find that an extraordinary procedure and one that raises a doubt in my mind as to whether these Executive Deputies have any role at all, or are simply rejoicing in a fairly grand title that has no substance whatsoever. I suspect very much that that is the case.
The move of the Executive Deputies to the fifth floor confuses the issue even further. I think that this is the point Mr Wood, in particular, wishes to make - that it confuses the role of the Executive and of the Legislature. If the Executive Deputies are mere backbenchers, as Mr Kaine tells us, then they belong in the Assembly precincts. They do not belong in the Executive area. That is the difficulty that we are facing at the moment. If they are Assembly members and that is their only role, if they are allowed to ask questions of Ministers and take a full part on committees and so on, then their place is in the Assembly precinct.
On that topic as well, Mr Speaker, I am still waiting for some elucidation of the role of Executive Deputies on committees. As we know, Executive Deputies have been given the job of chairing committees which are directly related to the area of their executive deputyship. If they are to work with the Executive on the Executive floor and they chair Assembly committees, then I believe that is quite inappropriate. That blurs the role of Assembly committees and makes them, at least in my view, government committees. For instance, we have Mr Jensen chairing the Planning and
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