Page 2473 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 7 August 1990
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the Opposition but as a member of the Assembly. Members who hold no executive office have a responsibility to participate fully in the process of committee work in the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Notwithstanding the previous posturing of the Labor Party members on the issue of executive deputies participating in committees, as they have also done in the past on the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, this committee, I suggest, provided a perfect opportunity for the Opposition to question formally departmental officials who are responsible for the preparation and implementation of the Government's new capital works program. Failure to do so is, quite frankly, a grave dereliction of their duty to the Assembly and the people who elected them.
I would have thought that the report that was tabled this afternoon by this committee clearly indicates the commitment of me particularly, as chairman, to maintain the integrity of the committee system. I am sure that I am supported in that by my colleague on the committee, Mrs Nolan.
It is also somewhat ironic that Mr Berry has made his dissenting comments available to the rest of the committee only this afternoon, yet he has had the benefit of receiving the minutes of the committee meetings and various drafts of the report as they were prepared, following the hard work of the members and secretariat, on which he has reneged.
However, I digress. I am concerned that in Mr Berry's justification he has trodden a dangerous path. This, I think, is important - and I would like members to listen carefully to this - regarding discussion of matters raised during private committee deliberations. I believe he is straining the intent behind standing order 214, even if he may be just within the letter of that standing order.
What really concerns me is that, if the Labor Party is going to go down this path, committee members may think twice before they make any statements in the confines of the committee room. This may well lead us all to a point at which we are no longer prepared to conduct our affairs in committee in a frank and forthright manner. In the past, our ability to do so, knowing that cheap political point scoring will not result, has led to much better reports. One must wonder whether Mr Berry's limited productive time in committees has led him down this path. One must also wonder whether, when considering his options, he has sought advice from his colleague Mr Wood who participates in committees in an exemplary manner. Certainly my experience on the number of committees on which I have served with Mr Wood bears that out, and I am sure that other members of the total Assembly would agree with that.
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