Page 4644 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 27 November 1990
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wisdom perhaps from the elder statesman of the house who I know is going to rise to his feet next. No, I am sorry. The Chief Minister closes this debate. I guess that we are going to have to listen to Mr Wood.
MR WOOD (9.34): Mr Speaker, we have had two speeches on behalf of the Government up to this stage and each of them has demonstrated very clearly why we should be anxious. As soon as Mr Collaery got to his feet he told us the reason why the Government has lost this battle. He said, "Have confidence". There is Mr Collaery saying, "Have confidence in us. You can trust our word". Mr Duby, just a moment ago, said the same thing.
So, we have the leader of the Residents Rally, who seems to forget about hospitals and schools and all sorts of things, and we have the leader of the No Self Government team, or ex-No Self Government team, who came in here with all sorts of assurances about what he was going to do with this place, and what do they say? They say, "Have confidence in us". That has given us the answer we need and that is exactly why the community is very dubious about this whole procedure.
Mr Duby then compounded the problem. One of his major arguments, one on which he dwelt for some time, was the administration of the grants in former times. He said that they were not appropriate, groups missed out and groups climbed on the band wagon. He said that the way those funds were distributed was not correct and was not a good way. Of course, what he does not know - and there are a lot of things that he does not know - is that his Chief Minister was one of those people who, year after year, decided how those funds were going to be spent. So, when you stood up there and criticised the decisions, you were criticising your Chief Minister.
Mr Kaine: Yes, I am quite offended.
MR WOOD: Yes, he is quite offended, he says, and so he should be. This man who knows nothing about the background of this has just given you, the Chief Minister, a gigantic serve. So, next time you stand up, Mr Duby, you should stick to your prepared script and you will not get yourself into so much trouble.
The background to this is simply one of confidence. The Minister, the Chief Minister and others can say, "We are going to transfer these funds into Consolidated Revenue and you can trust us", and you can make these routine arrangements; but the fact is that there is more than simple procedures, processes and administrative arrangements. The fact is that over a long period the community has built up a great deal of confidence in the stability of that fund, knowing that there was an amount of money there, not always fully utilised, and knowing that under the arrangements that existed they were secure with their funding. No matter what sort of government there
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