Page 589 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 1990
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Ms Maher: No-one was here last Tuesday we sat.
Mr Collaery: Yes, Rosemary was here for 28 minutes.
Ms Maher: No, no-one was in the gallery.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Kaine: Well, Rosemary would not know as she was not here most of the time.
MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, I wish you would bring them to order.
MR SPEAKER: Please proceed, Ms Follett.
MS FOLLETT: I do not believe that at any time the members on this side of the Assembly have agreed to there not being an Assembly sitting this evening. I am aware, Mr Speaker, that you did reply to my letter. You said to me that you believed that the question of whether the Assembly sat tonight or not was a matter for this Assembly, rather than a matter for the Government or for you to make a statement upon.
I hope, Mr Speaker, that you will bear in mind this evening that there are quite clearly members in the Assembly who wish the Assembly to sit this evening and who are aware that there is business on the paper that could well be got on with this evening. There is no reason why it could not. I hope that you will bear that in mind when you vote on the matter. There is important business before the Assembly that could be debated this evening, and I think it really is a tragedy when members of the Assembly put their own personal commitments before the business that is before this Assembly. That appears to me to be the case this evening, but the only explanation we were given of why the Government did not wish the Assembly to sit tonight was because two of its members had other engagements. I just do not think that is good enough.
I have no doubt that the Government is about to use its numbers to adjourn this Assembly, but it does not need every last one of its people present to deal with the matters that are before the Assembly for this evening. So I would repeat that the consultation process was totally inadequate and has been misrepresented by most of the members of the Government who have spoken on this issue. I really think that while there are members of the Assembly who wish to observe the normal sitting pattern of the Assembly and continue with business tonight, then that should be the view of this Assembly.
MR MOORE (5.36): I was at the particular meeting with Mr Berry and Mr Jensen towards the end of Friday afternoon. I was in a position not to have to go back and consult my party, so I was able to listen to Mr Jensen and I did not
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