Page 1086 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 23 June 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Stevenson is operating in a policy vacuum, which he has to do because of the way he approached the election. The Independents have chosen to work on their own and, whilst I think they are well resourced, that makes it more difficult for them. As an Independent, if you want to cover everything that happens in the Assembly it is harder work. There is no question about that. That is a choice that Independents make.
Madam Speaker, I will conclude with a statement of the obvious: If the members of this Assembly think there is not time to consider various bits and pieces of legislation that come before this chamber, it is in their hands. It is ultimately in their hands. They can defer legislation. As has been indicated by the Independents, they wish to defer a particular piece of legislation. I do not know why, but that is something we will hear about later on. It is ultimately in your hands. I submit to you, Madam Speaker, and to all members, that there is no matter of public importance before us today.
MR CORNWELL (4.00): Madam Speaker, I thought Mr Berry spoke very moderately on this matter of public importance, and I think he has every reason to speak moderately on it. I believe that Mr Stevenson, the Liberals, Ms Szuty and Mr Moore have all made the same point, and that is that after a comparative drought of legislation we now have a flood of it.
Mr Berry: You cannot have it both ways.
MR CORNWELL: I am sorry; we can have it both ways. Under your Government we do have it both ways. It is not a question of can; we do. The fact remains that we have two days of this sitting to go before a 40-day recess and we suddenly have a large amount of legislation on the books. As Mr Humphries rightly pointed out, this must raise some suspicion that some of this legislation is simply to be railroaded through, because we will not have sufficient time to examine it in detail. It is not a question of condemning the Government in terms of all legislation. I would remind you that Mr Stevenson's MPI reads:
... the brief time allowed for the passage of many Bills -
not all of them, but many -
through the Assembly is insufficient -
and this is the important thing -
for adequate public discussion and consultation ...
This Government prides itself on consultation; it keeps telling us how much it consults with people. Well, I do not think it is consultation. I do not think you consult with people; I think you tend to insult them, Mr Berry, because you do not consult enough. This is what Mr Stevenson is talking about, and we support him. I might add that I have some reservations about his 60-day rule. I think that is possibly a little too much in some cases; nevertheless, as has been pointed out, it is always possible, of course, to bring on a Bill and declare it urgent. I would hope that that would be the exception rather than the rule; nevertheless, the opportunity is presented to do that.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .