Page 4 - Week 01 - Friday, 27 March 1992
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ELECTION OF CHIEF MINISTER
THE PRESIDING OFFICER: The next item of business is the election of a Chief Minister.
MR BERRY: Madam Speaker, I propose that Rosemary Follett be elected as Chief Minister for the Australian Capital Territory and I move:
That Rosemary Follett be elected Chief Minister for the Territory.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER: Is there any further proposal?
MR HUMPHRIES: Madam Speaker, I propose that Trevor Thomas Kaine be elected as Chief Minister for the Australian Capital Territory and I move:
That Trevor Kaine be elected Chief Minister for the Territory.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER: Is there any further proposal?
The time for proposals has expired. There being two candidates proposed, the election of a Chief Minister will proceed by ballot. Debate may ensue.
There being no debate, pursuant to standing order 3(f) the bells will now be rung and a ballot taken.
The bells having been rung and a ballot having been taken -
THE PRESIDING OFFICER: The result of the ballot is: Rosemary Follett, 10 votes; Trevor Kaine, six votes. Therefore, Rosemary Follett, the candidate with a majority of four votes, is declared elected as Chief Minister.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister), by leave: Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Assembly for the confidence that they have shown in me by electing me as Chief Minister. I would also like to thank the people of Canberra for the support that they gave to the Australian Labor Party at the election in February.
I am honoured to accept this position, and I recognise the great responsibility that it involves. I am conscious that that responsibility is a great one, because it places in my hands, and those of my colleagues, a very large part of the task that is bestowed on this Assembly and the ACT Government by the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act. The task for all of us here is to serve the people of Canberra; to govern on their behalf, in their interests and according to their wishes.
Madam Speaker, our goal must be to secure our Territory's future and the well-being of our community. This goal places my election in context. The most important thing today is not the election of a new Chief Minister. The most important thing is, in fact, the meeting of a new Legislative Assembly. The new Assembly marks a new phase in self-government, and of course some new opportunities. Collectively, the members of this Assembly face a very important choice. The choice is between the instability, the antics and the rancour of the First Assembly, on the one hand, and the great potential for rational, intelligent and informed decisions that the new composition of this Second Assembly provides.
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