Page 1694 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
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Mr Berry: Craig Duby and Bernard Collaery; neither of them should go.
MR KAINE: Talking about getting a return for the investment, Mr Duby came back from Perth with $2m as a result of his trip. And you say that that is financial irresponsibility. You say that we have to balance what we get out of it against what we put in. Mr Duby did just that and he put his money where his mouth is.
You do the same. You cannot, because when you were in government you did not perform. You wimped on the deal. You did not represent the people of the ACT in these ministerial council meetings. You sat on your duff, where you sit now, and you did nothing - just like your refusing to attend committee meetings now. You do not earn your money now. You did not earn your money when you were in government. If the people of the ACT were foolish enough to fall for your talk again and ever contemplate putting you back into government, they would make a grave mistake.
MR CONNOLLY (8.41): Mr Speaker, Mr Berry's revelation tonight is of extreme concern to anyone who observes public affairs in this Territory. Mr Berry referred to a report by independent consultants, a firm of respected accountants and auditors, who had major criticisms of the way public funds are spent in this Territory in participation in inter-governmental ministerial conferences and other arrangements.
They said that this area should be subject to strict review, that savings could be made, and that it should be looked at very carefully. And that is pretty well what I said in the Estimates Committee report last year. I said that the remarkable expenditure in six months by the Alliance of some $39,000 on travel, compared to some $6,000 in a corresponding period by a Labor Government - a 480 per cent increase - did seem to suggest that this was an area where some savings could be made.
Mr Kaine: You were afraid to leave town. They were not game to leave town.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR CONNOLLY: Mr Speaker, the Chief Minister gets agitated at this, but it does seem a reasonable proposition. When expenditure by one government, of whatever political persuasion, is 480 per cent greater than that of another government, it indicates that some savings could be made, and that is precisely what this firm of accountants has said.
The response to this from the Chief Minister, in a very heated manner, has been to say that that is precisely what they do; that the Government does look very carefully at ministerial travel. That is exactly contrary to what the Estimates Committee was told. It is unfortunate that Mr
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