Page 5236 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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they have criticised again and again almost every initiative taken by this Government in the last 12 months, but where are the alternatives? Do some homework, produce the evidence of careful thought of your own on these problems, spell out what you would do, rather than criticise all the time. Make productive use of the next six or seven weeks when Mr Kaine and I are away and we will be pleasantly surprised when we get back as to how well you have done.
DR KINLOCH (4.54): Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to thank Mr Kaine and Mr Humphries, as they go away, for undertaking some very difficult burdens on behalf of us all. They will miss Leo McKern in Boswell for the Defence and they will miss a wonderful season of movies at Electric Shadows in January. I commend the new poster to all members. They are going into temperatures of minus 20, minus 15 and minus 10, to suffer on our behalf. I think we should commiserate with them. They have our best wishes as they leave on these well deserved holidays. Indeed, we should send them postcards to show how beautiful it is here in Canberra and to thank them for putting up with the hardships of overseas.
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (4.55): Mr Deputy Speaker, there are really two issues involved here. In bringing up this matter today, Mr Wood was reflecting the view of the Labor Party that it is indeed a matter of public importance. Mr Collaery did not seem to think so and Dr Kinloch certainly did not seem to think so, but I put it to you that it is indeed a matter of public importance. There are two issues. The first is the numbers of Ministers who are going. I feel obliged to spell it out for Government members opposite, who have missed the point entirely.
Mr Moore: Because of their IQ.
MS FOLLETT: Yes. The first issue is the number of Ministers who are leaving not just Canberra but Australia for a quite lengthy period. We are in fact seeing half of the Cabinet disappear.
Mr Kaine: And there are only two going. That is the other side of it; only two.
MS FOLLETT: Mr Kaine again demonstrates his remarkable grasp of mathematics when he points out that two is half of the Cabinet. I agree; this is the difficulty.
Mr Kaine: Yours is not so good either. Will I tell you what the little brackets around the numbers are for?
Mr Wood: It means that there is no Cabinet.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, members!
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