Page 1693 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR KAINE: Well, I think that Mr Collaery is making a point. No member of this Government has travelled to Sydney at public expense to watch the Raiders play. No member of this Government has gone to Melbourne for a radio interview. Members of that lot, when they were in government, did both. When you talk about irresponsibility and the conservation of public moneys, you had better watch where you throw your rocks from, because there is no doubt that this Government has been far more responsible in its approach to budgeting and the management of public moneys than you ever were. The evidence for that lies in this year's budget and the outcomes from it.
We will demonstrate that we can come out of a financial year, in these troubled financial times, with a balanced recurrent budget, which is more than any of your Labor contemporaries anywhere in Australia can boast. Your attitude to money is the same as theirs: Spend it as though it is going out of style; borrow it if you do not have enough. And you have the effrontery to talk about financial irresponsibility.
Mr Berry: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. What about relevance?
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry! I take your point on relevance, but I think that you opened up the debate on this clause.
Mr Berry: No points of order were raised in relation to my speech, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Berry. The objection is overruled.
MR KAINE: No, because we do not jump to our feet every time one of you opens your mouth; we are prepared to listen. But I repeat - - -
Mr Berry: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I thought I heard you acknowledge that the point of order that I raised was in fact relevant; that there is a need for people to observe the standing orders, in particular that which relates to relevance.
MR SPEAKER: No. Order! Mr Berry, you misheard. You were obviously talking at the time. Please resume your seat.
MR KAINE: I think that Mr Berry opened the gates when he started to talk about junkets and financial irresponsibility. I have already made the point that the Labor Party when in government did do some junketing, with absolutely no justification whatsoever for spending public money. If he can prove that any Minister of this Government has ever attended a ministerial council meeting where there was not justification to go, let him put the evidence on the table.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .