Page 2137 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 May 1991
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had a $7m deficit in the hospital budget from Mr Berry at the time the crucial decisions on moving a motion of no confidence in Ms Follett were made. That is on the record. For better or worse, we took good advice and, after arduous debate, made decisions which will now stand and for which we will be accountable. I am not ashamed to stand with my two colleagues and be accountable for those things.
I do, finally, make one last point. The cupboard in this Territory is not bare. We have a fairly good capital budget. It is the recurrent budget that has a problem. We have not achieved the recurrent savings we wanted. I have done my best to support, as leader of the Rally, stable economic government in the Territory. I accept the Chief Minister's prerogative to dismiss me this morning. That was not without considered debate through to midnight last night. I was aware overnight that I would be dismissed and I have had the support of those around me.
Mr Speaker, the other point that should be observed at this stage is that the Rally will be up there and running at the next election. We have experience in government - something which no other community party has in this country. I have had the honour to be at many ministerial fora - Attorneys, welfare, national child-care strategy meetings, and many others - where I have bargained and fought for the Territory. I am honoured to have worked with all those Ministers around Australia, those good politicians. There are some around the place that are crook and they bring a bad name on all of us.
I do trust that the experience that I have had will aid and assist the Rally in its resurgence, which was noted at our last annual general meeting. We will bounce back. We have had this experience. We now look forward to strong work on the cross benches, snipping off the various agendas and ideological extremities of the major parties.
MR WOOD (11.10): Mr Speaker, let us be quite clear about today's events. Mr Collaery was sacked. How else may I put it? He was fired; he was booted out; he was dismissed. Mr Collaery did not go voluntarily. He did not, on a matter of principle, resign. At no time did Mr Collaery say to himself, "I can no longer support the policies of this Government. I must, in conscience, go". At no time did that happen. He hung onto that position desperately.
There is no respect accruing to Mr Collaery in this event; there is no glory for him, and he is not a hero. I know that he tries to portray that, as we have seen already, when he speaks to the gallery and turns and smiles at the applause. I doubt that it is for him. Mr Collaery stuck in there long past the time when, on any adherence to principles, he should have gone. He wanted to stay, and the same can be said about the Rally. There is no question about that; the Rally wanted in, and they supported the Government's policies over and over again.
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