Page 3474 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 18 September 1991
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Mrs Grassby: What do you expect? It is his colleague on his feet.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Collaery, will you resume your seat. Mrs Grassby, I request that that be withdrawn.
Mrs Grassby: No, I do not think it should be withdrawn. You are. You allowed the same thing that was stopped in question time.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mrs Grassby, please; I request that you withdraw. That is an imputation on the Chair, and I request that that be withdrawn.
Mrs Grassby: I withdraw it unqualifiedly, but I do not feel as though I did.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: I request that it be withdrawn unqualifiedly.
Mrs Grassby: I withdraw unqualifiedly. Are you happy now?
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, Mrs Grassby.
MR COLLAERY: The reason why I have ranged widely on this issue is that the Ministers agreed - these are Mr Berry's words - "that the reports should go forward to the Special Premiers Conference in November and that they should be made public". I think this is an appropriate opportunity for me to register our concern, the concern of the Residents Rally, about this process. It may well be that we have this uncomfortable, unpopular, lone position on this issue; but I assure you that wherever I go at the moment people on the Left approach me and applaud the stand that the Residents Rally is taking on this issue. I assure you of that, and I am not exaggerating.
I call upon the Follett Government to review the direction in which it is going on tied grants. I accept the sensibility of it in a number of other areas - I will not go into that - such as transport and the rest; but, in this area, Mr Berry's statement is cause for further concern in the community because, ambiguous though the wording is, it is a clear further endorsement of the Premiers communique of 30 July which the Chief Minister of this Territory should not have signed without putting a reservation to her signature.
She well knew the views of the Residents Rally. She is a minority leader and she should not have put her signature to that without properly consulting the political leaders in this chamber. I add that most of the other people present were minority leaders or shaky leaders, and we may well see some different decision making taken; but, regrettably, that might mean further accelerated moves towards federalism.
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