Page 5093 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 12 December 1990
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7. time for research, drafting and discussion of amendments;
particularly considering the fact that the ACT does not have the safeguard of the Upper House review.
MR STEVENSON (3.07): Mr Speaker, I rise to my feet quickly, lest Mr Collaery jump to his feet and suggest that this matter of public importance is largely the same as an earlier matter of public importance I raised in this Assembly in August. Before he does that, I wish to say that indeed it is. It is practically identical. The reason it is practically identical is that we have a practically identical problem - the Alliance not giving the people of Canberra or other members in this parliament the opportunity for full and open debate of laws that are being introduced into the ACT.
I think it is a sad situation that the vast majority of people in Canberra have not the slightest knowledge of the vast majority of laws that pass through this, their Assembly.
Mr Humphries: Who ever does know what goes through the parliament - anywhere in the world?
MR STEVENSON: Mr Humphries says, "Who ever does anywhere in the world?". If that is not a condemnation of people who are supposedly servants of the people, I do not know what is, and I certainly could not have put it better myself. I agree that people do not know. Is it not our obligation and responsibility to work towards a situation where in fact people - our employers - do know what on earth is happening to their lives and their money, particularly their money?
Last night many Bills were pushed through this house. It cannot be said that the Bills were minor or unanimously agreed upon in this Assembly. They were not. When considering time for the introduction of Bills, it would be far better to err on the side of taking too long and allowing people more time to talk about the matters and discuss these laws than to rush them through and allow insufficient time.
I think it would be fair to say that this year and last year the majority of people's concerns were with Canberra legislation that is being introduced by this Assembly that they do not feel they had fair and open consultation upon. We should perhaps take a lead from the North Sydney Municipal Council. The council in North Sydney is perhaps a rarity in Australia. It would tend to be the exception to the notion put by Mr Humphries of "Where in the world do the people know what is going on?". I would suggest that North Sydney could well be one of the few such places in the world - and there are definite reasons for that.
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