Page 2732 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 August 1991
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MR BERRY (Minister for Health and Minister for Sport) (10.42): I rise to oppose this amendment. It is a silly amendment that will not work.
Mr Collaery: A very, very informed comment.
MR BERRY: I just heard learned Bernard muttering in the background. But, as I work my way through this, he will come to understand from his training what I am talking about. The first thing I want to comment on is the lack of consultation there has been on this issue. There has been no attempt to talk to the Government about amendments that might be moved on the Bills that were put up. There was no attempt by the member who moved the amendment to approach the Government on this issue. There was no consultation at all.
Mr Jensen: You rang me and asked me which way we were going, and I told you.
MR BERRY: Indeed. Did you ring me? Not a chance. You did not even show me what you were up to. In fact, I must say that you were very hesitant in telling me, Norm. It was like pulling teeth. But they might be rotten in future, if you do not watch yourself.
The difficulty that you have goes something like this: The first thing that the members opposite are going to have to deal with is the problem I am about to outline. I have circulated an amendment that will fix the problem, but I will come to that in a moment. It is not mine - - -
Mrs Nolan: Whose is this?
MR BERRY: I will come to that in a minute. This is the correct way of doing what you are trying to do.
Ms Follett: Had you asked.
MR BERRY: Yes, had you asked. The first thing I have to talk about is consistency. If there was some consistency amongst the members who support this amendment by Dr Kinloch, perhaps they would not support it on the basis of section 65 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act. We all recall the righteous indignation that was expressed when Labor tried to move motions on schools, hospitals, the Lakes (Amendment) Bill and the Human Rights Bill. I will get to the reason at the base of this. I have been in consultation with ACT Electricity and Water, and I have in front of me a letter that I will read into the Hansard, Mr Speaker, and I will have somebody copy and circulate it for members' information. They would have been able to get access to this if there had been some consultation on the matter beforehand. It is a letter to my senior private secretary, which states:
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