Page 4133 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 23 October 1991
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MR HUMPHRIES: Earle Page, I am informed by my friends and colleagues, was that opposition leader, even though he led a party that was not the largest of the parties not in government. However, that was anomalous, and for the most part that role has been automatically designated according to the number of seats that a particular party has had in opposition.
The other important point in having an opposition leader is that it is a role which carries with it the uncrowned role of alternative government. The opposition is the alternative government to the government which actually sits on the treasury bench. In that sense, I think we can say with some confidence that in this place at least it is very much the Liberal Party that forms the alternative government. I know that those opposite will disagree with me, and I am quite happy to accept their ridicule between now and February. But I take some little notice of opinion polls, and in the last poll the Liberal Party commanded the support of some 30 per cent of the electors of the Territory and the Residents Rally commanded about 2 per cent. That might have been an exaggeration; I do not know.
I am not trying to put the Residents Rally down. They have a role to play, but they do not have a role to play as the alternative government. I am not going to pretend that it was not good for the Territory to have a period of non-Labor government in which the Residents Rally played a role - a very important and welcome role, at least for most of the time. I will not say that that was not the case; but I will say that it is unrealistic of the Residents Rally or any other party that sits on my right to expect that it might be in a position to form a government after the next election. I think that is exceedingly unlikely.
I see that members in this debate have spoken to a document which sets out proposed allocations of staffing resources as between the various non-government parties. Mr Berry has a copy at the moment, for example. I do not believe that we have seen that on this side of the chamber, or at least in this part of the chamber. I think it is a little unrealistic to expect that we can debate new allocations without having seen them, at least as far as the Opposition Liberal Party is concerned. I thank Mr Moore for providing me with a copy of this document. It does seem to provide an extensive redistribution of resources. I pass it on to the Opposition Leader.
However, my comments remain that it is unrealistic to expect that any decision in this Assembly, particularly in its dying days, could legitimately abolish the role and the office of Opposition Leader. It was almost abolished in late June this year for a few hours, but I am pleased that the Assembly reversed that decision. It is an institution that will remain for as long as there is an ACT Legislative Assembly.
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