Page 3091 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 17 November 1992
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Mr Berry: It is flawed.
MR HUMPHRIES: I think he has just confirmed that that is still his view.
Mr Berry: I did not use the words "a sham and a dud". They are the words you used.
MR HUMPHRIES: I did not say that they were your words. I said that they were words of the kind that you have used. You have impugned this report. You have said that the report is not worth very much.
Mr Berry: Indeed; that is right.
MR HUMPHRIES: Obviously Mr Berry still takes that view. I have to say, Madam Speaker, that that attitude distresses me greatly because, irrespective of the process whereby we have reached a stage of criticising the Government in this report - - -
Mr Berry: And I have to say that you were responsible for most of it.
MR HUMPHRIES: Just hang on. You will get your turn, Mr Berry. Irrespective of the process whereby that has come about, there are many important elements of this report that this Government cannot ignore. If you propose to throw out the whole report because you want to make an issue about so-called politicisation, we on this side of the chamber will not let you get away with it, for one thing. The rest of the Assembly, I suspect, will make sure that its efforts to address those same points are redoubled in the future until this Government picks them up and does something about them.
This is not the first Estimates Committee report to have criticised a government for its failure to be open and accountable to some degree in its appearances before the Estimates Committee. The suggestion has been made by those opposite, particularly Mr Berry, that somehow this process has been wrenched from its normal path, that there has been a deliberate attempt to subvert the process of making considered recommendations in the report, and that instead we have a report that is not worth very much. I refer the Assembly to the report of last year's Estimates Committee. I think it is important to quote from this because it does throw into context some of the things that have been said in this year's Estimates Committee report. I quote from the report at page 3:
The Committee considers that, by and large, Ministers recognised the role of the Committee and its importance. However, during the hearings Ministers displayed varying levels of insight into departmental operations and varying degrees of willingness to be forthcoming.
Again from the report:
The Committee is concerned that there appeared to be a lack of willingness to discuss forward planning and the distribution of services. The Committee believes that there should be a forward, proactive planning process for community health services.
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