Page 2257 - Week 08 - Friday, 21 June 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
to speak on behalf of all non-government members as Leader of the Opposition. Accordingly, I shall eschew that title and would like to refer to myself as an opposition coordinator or a coordinator of the non-government parties.
With regard to the staffing arrangements and the ancillary benefits which go with the position or office of Leader of the Opposition, I also state that those resources shall be distributed equitably amongst all non-government members of this Assembly. In other words, we shall not have what I think is the foolish state where one party, namely, the Liberal Party, would have had access to a vast range of resources which would not have been available to other non-government members of this Assembly.
Mr Connolly: What about the salary?
MR DUBY: In relation to salary, that is a matter which will be addressed later, although I am pleased to say that, in my view, the salary certainly will not accrue to me.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a short statement.
Leave granted.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I think that the decision of the Assembly today, if it can be called a decision, is regrettable in the extreme.
Mr Collaery: It was a democratic vote.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, it was not a democratic vote, Mr Speaker. There has not been a democratic vote on this matter. There has been an election at which one candidate has secured sufficient votes to become elected as Opposition Leader, and yet has announced his intention not, in effect, to serve in that position. In my view, Mr Speaker, that is not a democratic vote of the Assembly.
We have effectively abolished the position of Leader of the Opposition, with five members of the Assembly not voting on that subject. A motion should have been put to the Assembly, with all members of the Assembly voting on that motion, to decide whether that was an appropriate course of action to take. That has not been done. It is inappropriate for that to have been done in that fashion. I think that the important role that an Opposition Leader plays in this as in other parliaments has been lost if this matter proceeds unchanged.
I might read briefly, Mr Speaker, from House of Representatives Practice, which has something to say on this subject. I quote from page 119:
A Leader of the Opposition is an essential figure in parliamentary government. In most English-speaking countries he receives a salary in addition to his salary as a private member.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .