Page 3016 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 August 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
faced every community group that he could possibly fit into his calendar. You know that, and you heard Mr Humphries, in that censure motion, described by me as courageous, competent and all the rest.
We just hear the Labor Party, Mr Speaker, putting on the record things which obviously have no substance. One issue that was run today was a supposed matter of privilege. What a nonsense issue was put forward today. It was just to grab a headline.
Mr Berry: Point of order.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Collaery, relevance, please.
MR COLLAERY: Yes. I will move directly to the issue, Mr Speaker. The issue is whether open consultative government will be enhanced by the Chief Minister exercising the powers that he may have if this resolution is accepted by the Federal Executive Council and approved by way of regulation by the Governor-General.
I sincerely hope that the Opposition members will, once they lose this vote, accept that the Chief Minister of this Territory is entitled, like every Premier in this country, to shape the ministry the way he wants. This is the only Government which is constrained by act of parliament, by a paternal instrument that should be repatriated to us, as to how it forms its ministries by number. The Federal Act states that we can have a Chief Minister and three Ministers.
Mr Berry: You stitched up the deal. What a disgrace! Sit down. You make us sick.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Speaker, this interruption is extremely distracting, and it has continued. I ask you to rule on that man's behaviour.
MR SPEAKER: Please proceed, Mr Collaery, at this late stage.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Speaker, I made the point that the self-government Act creates a paternal system over us by the Federal Government. At this stage we need the approval of the Federal Government. But the Federal Government has enough sense to realise that we are a democratic chamber and that self-government is here in the ACT and, therefore, it would be proper for the Government to accede to the democratic vote of this Assembly.
Moreover, it would be proper for the Executive Council and the Minister sponsoring the resolution before that to accept the Hansard transcript of today and the other day to see the comments of members, because it would be entirely appropriate for them to inform themselves more fully and not from the "folksy" comments we heard from Madame Ros Kelly today. They were unfortunate comments which were
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .