Page 3931 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 23 October 1990
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Detail Stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR BERRY (8.30): Mr Speaker, I have chosen this course to set the record straight about the Labor Party's position on this legislation. It has long been the policy of the Labor Party in this place to support such a Bill. It has to be recognised that it was the Labor Party in office that first moved to do something about this process. That is not to say that the Labor Party is in any way churlish because somebody else has introduced the Bill. It is a good Bill and it will mean much to the people of the ACT in the future. But I will not sit back and tolerate the churlish remarks that were made by the Minister in relation to the Labor Party's performance on this matter.
The Labor Party has never, ever, attempted to take the gloss off this Bill, as he put it. The Labor Party has attempted to take the gloss off the Minister's tardy performance in relation to the introduction of the Bill.
Mr Kaine: You talk about churlishness. You are a master of it.
MR BERRY: Well, Mr Speaker, it is a matter of fact and these facts have to be placed on the record after such an attack as that by the Minister. The fact is that on 13 December last year the Labor Party sought drafting support to have this legislation introduced into the parliament in the first sittings of this year. We were blocked in that attempt by the Government's position in relation to the development of legislation. It could be said in hindsight that we should have drafted it ourselves. That is an avenue that the Labor Party had to resort to on other Bills because of the blocking tactics of the Government opposite.
The Labor Party has never attempted to knock the gloss off this legislation. It has always supported the introduction of strong legislation. It has always supported its early introduction. If the Minister finds it difficult to be criticised about a tardy approach to progressive introduction of legislation, he will have to cope with that more often because the Labor Party will keep him on his mettle in relation to this sort of legislation at all times that it has the opportunity to do so in the future.
Mr Kaine: What a bunch of codswallop.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (8.33): Yes, I think the Chief Minister described it very aptly; a bunch of codswallop is what I would say about Mr Berry's comments.
Mr Berry: I get two says, Gary, so be careful.
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