Page 3081 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 17 November 1992
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You gave leave. It is all very well to give leave, but then come back and say, "Ah, but you were not at the Estimates Committee; there is something wrong with you funny geezers because you were not at the Estimates Committee". The fact of the matter is, Madam Speaker, that at every meeting of the Estimates Committee responsible members of the Liberal Party were there. They asked appropriate questions - - -
Mr Connolly: They were not; not the shadow spokespersons.
MR KAINE: Who are you to determine who is responsible in the Liberal Party? You attended meetings of the Estimates Committee only when you, as the responsible Minister, had to be there. The Liberal Party operates on the same basis. We were properly represented at every meeting of the Estimates Committee. I will deal with my own case. Members of the Government have been heard to say, "Oh, Trevor Kaine did not attend at the Estimates Committee for a whole week; he was out of town for a week". That is not true. I was out of town for only one day on which the Estimates Committee sat.
Mr Connolly: I never said that you were out of town. I just said that I did not see you there, for the three days of my estimates.
MR KAINE: You were not there; so how would you know whether I was there? You have a double standard. The Estimates Committee report is so hard hitting that members of the Government are now squirming and trying to avoid the responsibility. To deny that the committee report is a good report is indicative of the very fact that the Estimates Committee hits home. The members of the Opposition and the Independent members of this Assembly were there, and they applied the blowtorch to your bellies and you do not like it. You can talk about who was there and who was not there. We will come to who was not there, and Ms Szuty has made the point at great length. Who was not there when the final report was being considered? I will tell you who was not there. Mr Lamont was not there, Ms Ellis was not there and Mrs Grassby was not there. Why were they not there? They were all too busy. But we have not - - -
Mr De Domenico: Mr Lamont was busy writing his letter.
MR KAINE: Yes. The other thing is about their letters. The only one of the three who later wrote a letter to the chairperson of the committee on the day on which the meeting actually took place was Mr Lamont. The other two did not even get around to writing a letter until the next day. Mr Lamont thought his first barrel was not good enough, so he fired his second barrel the day after the meeting took place. If you three were serious about the Estimates Committee, why were you not there? Do not give me the excuse about being too busy. No other member of this Assembly was too busy to be there on the day of the final committee meeting to determine the content of the report. You were all too busy. You talk about members of the Opposition not being at Estimates Committee meetings. You hypocrites! I withdraw that, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you.
MR KAINE: So, what are we on about? The reason why these three did not attend the last meeting was that they then reserved the right to criticise it because they did not like it. They were told to absent themselves from the committee so that they could then complain on behalf of the Government.
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