Page 3358 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 18 September 1990
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it was Mr Kaine himself who moved that all members of this house should serve on the Estimates Committee. That was a good resolution then; it is a good resolution now. We are moving his own words back to him and he is not prepared to accept them.
MR MOORE (8.49): Mr Speaker, just before I start speaking on the topic, I would like to welcome parents from Holder Primary here. They are here to observe the Assembly and see how it works as part of their campaign against school closures and this Government which mercilessly takes away from public education and gives back to private education.
With reference, Mr Speaker, to the Estimates Committee, where we will have an excellent opportunity to question the Government more closely about the shonkying up of those figures in education and so forth, it is particularly important that we have as open a committee as we can. I recall that very early in this Assembly, in fact, after the election was held and in the six or seven weeks following that time prior to this Assembly sitting, there was a great deal of discussion about a committee system form of government. Many people considered this to be most appropriate for a government that was a mixture of local and State-style governments.
One of the great proponents of this at the time was Mr Jensen, and, as I recall, his excellent proposal for making the whole Assembly work together by strengthening the committee system was actually published in the Canberra Times. But, of course, that was long before he saw the possibility of his own great power in front of him, and now he has been able to go to the lofty position of Executive Deputy. What we should be considering - - -
Mr Collaery: You would be there, too, if you had not defected.
MR MOORE: Mr Collaery interjects that I could be there too. Mr Collaery, I am aware of the kind offers to take me into the Alliance that you and your colleagues have made me on many occasions. As you know, I was always aware that I was invited to become part of that Alliance Government over very many months, and you will also remember that I argued again and again that, in fact, that was not how we should conduct ourselves.
We should be acting in this particular instance in the public interest and it is in the public interest that as many members as possible should be fully involved in the Estimates Committee. It is not enough to quote standing order 235 and ignore standing order 234. Standing order 235 allows people in to question; but standing order 234, of course, is a very different story indeed. Standing Order 234 actually requires that members, not of the committee, "shall always withdraw when the committee is deliberating". There is no choice about it; when the committee is deliberating, other members "shall always
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