Page 1310 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Collaery: No, it is one person with four heads.
MR STEVENSON: I just thought Mr Collaery gave himself away then. On a number of occasions people within the Labor Party in this Assembly have indicated that very point. Mr Collaery made a statement to this effect at one time: "I am sure that while Mr Stevenson is in this Assembly this matter will not go away". That was to do with fluoride and pornography. Indeed, you are right; neither of them will go away until we do something effective about them.
"The six steps to hiring someone who will represent the electorate, not the party" - there are too many here - "or other vested interests." Why on earth would anyone suggest that members of parliament should represent their electorate? Why do you not all come along? I give you an open, free invitation - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Stevenson, consider my eardrums, please.
MR STEVENSON: I am sorry, Mr Speaker; I wanted to make sure they all heard. Provided it is acceptable to the gentleman running the course, I give you an open invitation to come along. In fact I will be happy to run one in Canberra to save you the transport. We would find it very interesting to discover how to represent one's electorate. It is not something that is held well by members in this Assembly. "Why politicians hate people who won't go away." I think that is fairly obvious. Look at the school issue on which the Labor Party suggests that it represents the people of Canberra.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Stevenson, your time has expired.
MR MOORE (5.28): Mr Speaker, when I first saw this censure motion I was not inclined to support it, because it is quite possible that anybody could put out a flyer on somebody else and make claims that the person may not have been aware of. I am sure that we are all aware that that could have happened. But a couple of things have made me reconsider: Firstly, Mr Stevenson's response and, secondly, these flyers were put out in envelopes identifying the Legislative Assembly. Therefore, clearly, Mr Stevenson knew of their existence and had the opportunity to correct or change some of those things that are clearly not correct. I would draw attention to one or two of those things that I see clearly as not being correct. The balance of power, according to Mr Stevenson's dissertation on the concept, clearly belongs to each one of the 17 of us. To say that any one person held the balance of power in that period is absolute nonsense.
To give a specific example, I recall, on 11 May 1989, very early in the morning - it must have been about 8 o'clock - a meeting in the Liberal Party headquarters between the Liberal Party and the Residents Rally. I do not intend to divulge any of the events at that meeting. However, it
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .