Page 2291 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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That vote on banning X-rated videos was lost. The question then was what to do next. There was a range of views within the Alliance Government on what to do next. One could take a purist position and say, "We go back to square one and say we cannot have any of this; but we will just let them go on living and that is that".
Mr Stevenson's motion and Mr Moore's amendment are directed towards Mr Kaine. I am glad to notice that Mr Moore was most careful not to attack Mr Kaine personally, and neither should he have and neither should Mr Stevenson. I have not known Mr Kaine for long - only since the 1989 election. Since then we have had good relationships as colleagues, first as joint members of the Opposition, then in our careful negotiations in forming the Alliance Government and then in the joint party room of the Alliance Government. In that joint party room, things sometimes get heated, and I apologise for the times when I have been partly responsible for that.
Consistently, my friend and colleague Trevor Kaine has opposed the hard-core pornography industry. He was steady and consistent in that matter. He and his party have always been consistent in that matter, as we have also heard from Mr Stefaniak. He and his party were consistent in voting with Mr Stevenson several weeks ago. That vote was lost, but Mr Kaine has steadily stood up to be counted on that matter.
Mr Kaine, as Chief Minister, then faced the realities of the situation. The matter of a proposed tax was brought to the joint party room - not by him. He was the chair of that meeting. The matter was debated and a majority voted in favour of imposing a tax. I ask members of the Labor Party to consider what they do in their party room. I do not feel free to comment on the details of the party room debate, and members may well speculate on the majority and minority votes on the issue. It was an example of the democratic process. I honour that process. The Alliance Government came to a decision based on changed circumstances after a vote which, in a sense, most of us had lost. Our Chief Minister acted responsibly and properly throughout the processes which led to the decisions made in this place last week. But the matter is not ended and Mr Stevenson will make sure that it is not ended.
Mr Berry: This would have to be the phoniest attempt yet.
DR KINLOCH: Under standing order 61, I must point out that, every time someone interrupts, the speaker loses some time on the clock.
I support Mr Kaine unreservedly as our Chief Minister. I hope he will not object to the remarks of an older man, when I say, not merely with loyalty but also with affection, that I have watched him grow both in effectiveness and stature as he has faced up to the very
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