Page 609 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 1990
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covered in legislation. Their views were ignored entirely in the document, The Tenancy of Commercial Premises, and that is a great disappointment.
It is worthwhile highlighting the difficulties that this coalition, this conservative Alliance Government, has in trying to reconcile the different conservative attitudes which are displayed within their grouping. In a very timely article in the Canberra Times, Leanne Mason covered this situation quite well. I would like to congratulate Leanne on the very clear manner in which she has presented the deep divisions within the Government on yet another issue of division.
Just yesterday we saw the dramatic division between the Chief Minister and his deputy over the Canberra Times site. This issue is just continuing this process. Leanne Mason's article spoke about the storm brewing between Residents Rally members of the Assembly and the Rally's executive over the rejection of Rally policy by a Government member of the party. The Rally executive believes its views have been ignored by the Legislative Assembly's Select Committee on the Tenancy of Commercial Premises - - -
Mr Kaine: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, I draw attention to standing order 58 and I submit that Mr Whalan ought to be debating the matter on which he has put forward a motion. What he is talking about at the moment is totally irrelevant.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you. Please do not debate the issue, Mr Kaine. Please stick to the point, Mr Whalan.
MR WHALAN: This particular article is absolutely and totally devoted to the question of the legislation which is before this Assembly - and I thank you for your ruling in that way, Mr Speaker. The article says:
The situation is particularly displeasing for the party because of the role of Rally MLA and committee member Norm Jensen. He appears to have compromised his party's position by not dissenting from the committee's report which seems to favour Liberal views.
There are those who believe he has crumbled before the influences of the committee's Liberal chairwoman, Robyn Nolan.
I can see Norm Jensen quivering at the knees when faced with that. The article continues:
In the early days of its existence, the Rally got behind those tenants -
it is referring to the tenants who had been complaining about unreasonably high and rapid increases in rents -
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