Page 4580 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
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That was a commitment to open and accountable processes. So, we have here a personal commitment from the Chief Minister - nothing to do with the conventions of government and the like. We have a Chief Minister who gives that commitment, and then we have an Executive, of which she is the head, that consistently fails to address questions. We do not have to go back even as far as yesterday. There was a case today where Mr Berry was asked a specific question and he did not even attempt to waffle; he refused to answer the question.
Mr Berry: That is not correct.
MR KAINE: That is correct. The Hansard will show that, first of all, when Mr Humphries tried to get the answer to the question, you did a bit of grandstanding on the issue; but that, when Mr Collaery later asked you the same question, you refused to answer. In fact, you just sat there and said, "No". You did not even get to your feet. That is what members of this Assembly are getting heartily sick of. And I am sure that the community out there is getting heartily sick of it, too. But this does not end with what happens on the floor of this house. Some Ministers are in contempt - and I use the words advisedly - not only of this Assembly by refusing to answer questions, but also of the Assembly's committees.
Mr Berry: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think that is an imputation against all members of this Assembly.
MR KAINE: I said "some".
Mr Berry: Well, without naming.
MR KAINE: I said "some".
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Kaine!
Mr Berry: Suggesting that any members of this Assembly are in contempt of this place is, I suggest, highly disorderly.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, I do not accept your point of order. On the matter on which Mr Kaine used the word, he explained himself.
MR KAINE: In any case, Mr Speaker, Mr Berry will find that I will become very specific shortly. I am referring not only to what happens in this Assembly but also to what happens in its committees. Again I refer, not to convention, standing orders or anything; I refer to statements made by the Chief Minister. In September 1989 she said, referring specifically to the Estimates Committee:
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