Page 3361 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 18 September 1990
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Mr Kaine: I will withdraw your invitation to coffee if you keep this up.
MR MOORE: The Chief Minister interjects that he will withdraw my coffee invitation. Chief Minister, surely you realise it will take a little more than an invitation to coffee to buy me off. In fact, I could say it would take a lot, lot more than you could ever offer.
Mr Jensen: Careful, careful. Would you like to rephrase that?
MR MOORE: No, I would not. What we have is a situation where in the public interest we should be adopting, in general, the amendment moved by Mr Berry. I state that I certainly will be supporting this amendment, and I ask each member of the Government to consider seriously the impact and to act in the public interest to ensure that this is an open committee in the broadest sense.
MR STEFANIAK (8.59): Mr Speaker, I think we are all - certainly, Mr Moore and Mr Berry - missing a number of salient points here. Firstly, this is a motion to establish an Estimates Committee, not the whole Assembly less the Executive and you, who will appear before it. Without repeating what Mr Humphries said, I would adhere to his comments about what happens in other places.
I am certain that, if the Labor Party at some future time forms a majority in this place, they will establish an Estimates Committee and it will not comprise everyone bar the Executive and the Speaker. In fact, I will quite confidently say that, if I am around and they form a government and they have everyone bar the Executive and the Speaker, I will stand here and sing 48-Crash for you. I am quite convinced it will not happen. That is a threat.
Mr Speaker, one other thing is that since we were established in May last year we have had a number of committees in this Assembly, and they have all worked very well. I have served on quite a number of them - about six or seven, I think, to date - and I have yet to be on a committee where people appear before that committee and every member of that committee does not get a fair go in asking exactly whatever questions they want of witnesses. That was true of the Estimates Committee last year; that is true of every other committee; and it will be true of this committee. I really do not know what the Opposition is worried about. Opposition members of the committee will have their chance to ask any questions they like of the four Ministers who appear before it and you, yourself, Mr Speaker.
We have, of course, standing orders 234 and 235. Standing order 235 is really quite clear. It states:
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