Page 5095 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 12 December 1990
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previously done oneself. I think the blinding hypocrisy of some of the things that are targeted in this Assembly is incredible.
I think that most people in the Assembly would understand that a lot of the problems come from lack of discussion with the public. It is a simple matter to let them know what we are doing. Let us look forward to 1991 and introduce some simple methods that would in most cases see that happen. One I would recommend is that no Bill should pass through this Assembly in less than 30 days. That is not an extreme requirement. It is very reasonable indeed. A lot of people may say that it should be two months or three months. I do not think too many members of the community have been harmed by legislation taking too long. I think there are many cases where they have been harmed by legislation taking too little time.
Mr Collaery: Except for last night.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Collaery says, "Except for last night". Well, that is actually not true. If there was a Bill that was urgent, by all means it should not be prevented. But I do not mean one out of two. I mean one in a hundred that is genuinely urgent. There certainly should be an allowance for an urgent Bill. I think Mr Kaine mentioned it during the debate last night. He said, "You want to see urgency?", or words to that effect, "We will have it passed in 10 minutes", I think it was.
Mr Kaine: I would always give you plenty of time, Dennis.
MR STEVENSON: Thank you, Chief Minister. So I think that we should allow 30 days. It is a matter that I will bring up. During that 30 days there should be more time to discuss the Bill in parliament. Rather than having something mentioned one time, a tabling speech the next, and then the next time the whole thing is passed, would it not be a better idea if there were at least two times when the matter could be debated by different members of the Assembly?
After all, we could suggest to people that this place is actually a place of debate where people can actually learn something; that people come along to this house and are prepared to listen to viewpoints of the Opposition and - - -
Mr Stefaniak: Be serious, Dennis.
MR STEVENSON: I know that it is an extreme viewpoint, Mr Stefaniak, to suggest that anybody comes into this Assembly to listen to other arguments being put. It is a sad situation that people already have their minds made up and could not care less about what anybody else says, even if they listened - and it is often the case that they do not.
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