Page 4131 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 23 October 1991
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MR JENSEN: You have been reading the green book again, have you, Mr Speaker?
There is nothing more to be said on this. All I am suggesting is that the proposal put forward by my colleague, with my support, provides for equality in the provision of assistance and staffing to the members of this Assembly so that they can carry out their duties. I will be very disappointed if, at the end of the day, the Assembly chooses not to take that view.
It could be argued that one of the reasons why both of the major parties are not too keen to support this proposal is that they are concerned about the ability of the Residents Rally to give them a caning at the next election. With appropriate resources, they might find themselves being given a bit of a fright.
Mrs Grassby: What, your brains beaten out by a feather?
MR JENSEN: We will not talk about empty vessels, Mrs Grassby. There has been a very productive group of people within the Residents Rally to provide representation for the people of Canberra. That is what we are here for. We have no agenda outside the ACT. Our agenda is solely to serve the people of Canberra. That is why we are here, and that is why we are seeking equality in the provision of staffing to non-executive members and non-office-holders.
MR HUMPHRIES (11.23): Mr Speaker, as one of the innumerable people in this place through whose hands the role of Opposition Leader has passed, I suppose I am entitled to comment in this debate.
Mr Wood: Only three.
MR HUMPHRIES: There are four of us, actually.
Mr Stefaniak: Craig was there for six hours.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, we must not forget him. I certainly cannot support the legislation. I firmly believe that there is an important role for both an opposition and an opposition leader, and I would like to explain why. Obviously, this role has grown up in response to the Westminster system of government. It is a concept that does not exist, to my knowledge, in any formal sense in other systems, such as the United States system, for example. There is no such thing as an opposition even in the United States. Of course, there is no Westminster system in the United States - at least not in the same sense as it applies here.
The reason we have an opposition leader is that we have a head of government, be it a prime minister or a chief minister or a premier, who sits in a parliament and who derives his or her authority from the majority of members, or at least a substantial number of members, in a
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