Page 4140 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 23 October 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Connolly: You want another house here, do you? Abolish this one and have two.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Connolly says, "Do you want another house here?". Well, only if it was controlled by people who represented the constitutional law and the majority expressed will of the people who wanted to abolish it. They could abolish this one and then abolish themselves, as they did in the upper house in Queensland. What they would do if they did represent the people, unlike in Queensland when they abolished themselves, is not take a huge financial package for doing so. I think that was an appalling situation.
Mr Stefaniak: Did they do that in Queensland?
MR STEVENSON: Yes, they abolished the upper house; but they were very, very well paid off for doing it. While we have this Assembly that is unwanted, unnecessary, unconstitutional and extremely expensive, in terms of the funds used to run it, it should be representative of the people. Unfortunately, it is not particularly representative of the people. Every member of this Assembly has been elected by Canberrans for some reason or another.
Mr Duby: Almost every member.
MR STEVENSON: I am sorry; I do take the point, Mr Duby. Almost every member of this parliament has been elected. Of course, Mr Connolly came in when Mr Whalan went out, saying that the pay of an MLA was not sufficient. Rightly or wrongly, the members here were elected to do something. It would seem fair, if there is money paid to members and their staff, that it be spread equitably to allow them to best support the constituents. We have a situation where the Liberal Party that had four members, then five members, and now four members - - -
Mr Kaine: When are you going to join and make it five?
MR STEVENSON: Well, it is an interesting point. When there was a no-confidence motion moved against the Chief Minister, I was spoken to by senior people within the Liberal Party and the business community. They said, "Would you support the Liberal Party?". I think I mentioned something along these lines: "I support Liberal policies quite strongly; if only the Liberal Party members supported them as well". I support the individual rights. I notice that the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Opposition past but one look at each other. Let me give you a classic example: Sodium silico-fluoride being added to the water supply has little - - -
Mrs Grassby: Relevance, relevance.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .