Page 2485 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 1991
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By way of short introduction, the principal Act, to which I am moving an amendment, allows, among other things, the Chief Minister to determine that, having regard to the parliamentary duties of a member of the Assembly, the member ought to be empowered to employ staff under the Act. Of course, we could have moneyed members of this Assembly who could well afford to employ their own staff. But members cannot employ staff under the Act unless they are employed under an agreement in writing. The parent Act further stipulates that employment must be in accordance with arrangements approved by the Chief Minister, and it is subject to conditions determined by the Chief Minister. The law further requires, and I will come back to this, that any such determination of those terms and conditions by a Chief Minister shall be tabled in the Assembly. It is, in effect, subordinate legislation, and any determination made should be tabled in the Assembly.
I brought to the Clerk's attention this morning that we may have to do some homework there, because, of course, the determination made by the former Chief Minister, Mr Kaine, on 4 February 1990, does not appear to have been tabled in this Assembly in pursuance of the legal requirement under section 11, subsection (4), of the Act that says:
A determination under subsection (2) shall be tabled in the Assembly on the first sitting day after the date of that determination.
The preamble to Mr Kaine's determination is that under section 6, subsection (2), and under section 11, subsection (2), the terms and conditions shall be tabled in the Assembly. I am sure that is of surprise to all members in the house; but, clearly, the Act required that this determination be tabled and debated, if necessary, by any people who had something to say about it. In that fashion we can talk legitimately about our allowances and entitlements, particularly by way of our staff, without the public thinking that we are somehow obsessed with our own cake and not proceeding with issues of greater concern to the community. So, I stress that I am raising these matters in a non-adversarial, non-confrontationist manner. I suppose, as Attorney during that period, if I had put my mind to - - -
Mr Berry: Another backdoor manner.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Berry seeks to take his usual sly advantages of the speech - - -
Mr Berry: It is because of your usual behaviour, your backdoor tactics.
MR COLLAERY: I think there is a good - - -
Mr Berry: Why didn't you mention it to the Chief Minister when you were talking to her about the issue yesterday?
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