Page 1948 - Week 06 - Thursday, 2 May 1991
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Mr Humphries: How would you know? What history? Name a case.
MR BERRY: I do not have it in front of me. I am not going to argue, but I have mentioned it in this place.
Mr Humphries: No, you cannot. You do not know, do you? He should not be telling me what is going on, should he?
MR BERRY: I think the term is Master of the Rolls, is it not? Lord Denning?
Mr Humphries: Lord Denning - yes, that is right - Master of the Rolls.
MR BERRY: Lord Denning made a particular point about the issue of bias and conflict of interest in a case which came before him. He said that an ordinary person in the street - or words along these lines - has to be convinced that there is no conflict of interest, that there is no bias. Justice has to be seen to be done. In this case, it is clearly not being seen to be done. Mr Humphries' legal training would tell him that what he just told us in the Assembly was wrong. I heard an interjection during the course of that debate that Mr Humphries was toeing the loyal party line. Yes, he was, but he did not do it very well.
I am glad that Mr Kaine has come back into the chamber, because there are a couple of things that I want to say about his contribution to the debate. Mr Kaine quite angrily said that the committee system or the committees were crooked.
Mr Kaine: I did not say that. I beg your pardon. You are misquoting again.
MR BERRY: He used the word "crooked", and the record will show that. He said that it was crooked because of the non-participation of members on this side of the house. I agree with his description that the committee system is crooked, but not for the same reasons. It is crooked because the Government has ensured that there is a conflict of interest clearly shown in the selection of Executive Deputies to chair those committees. That is the reason it is crooked, not for any other reason.
I for one - and my Labor colleagues and Mr Moore join me in this - will not participate in a farce. It is an absolute waste of time. We can serve our constituents in a much better way than by participating in those sorts of farcical arrangements, and that will continue. There is nothing productive in participating in farcical arrangements which have been cobbled together in the interests of holding government members together.
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