Page 3964 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 16 December 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
There are a number of other points we need to bear in mind. Firstly, this is a political arena. We do play politics. Politics are part and parcel of every single decision and process that occurs in this place. It is the responsibility of oppositions to assess pieces of legislation, to assess the legislative program, to assess the direction of government and, where it deems it necessary, to put forward counterviews. We have heard this morning on a popular non-commercial radio program that that has been a significant failure of the Opposition. They have failed to do that. All we have had is an exercise in carping over the last nine months. There has been no constructive criticism or debate by the Opposition on the possible alternatives that may exist.
It is in that way that we are able to address the pros and cons of the legislative program the Government is undertaking. If there is a positive or constructive view being put by the Opposition, we may be able to say that there needs to be a particular process within the chamber to deal with those constructive views. That has not been the case. Let us face it; if you look at the score they ended up with, which I think was a six, two of those points were for Mr De Domenico and the other four were for the two Independent members of the Assembly. That does not say too much about the rest of the team on the other side.
Mr Wood: What is this team business?
MR LAMONT: I am sorry. I would probably have to take another Gary poll to see whether those figures are accurate. I dare say that they would be. I thought, Mr De Domenico, that two was a pretty high score; but only one of the commentators gave that.
Mr De Domenico: I am still waiting for you to talk about the matter before us, so that we can assess what you have to say.
MR LAMONT: The simple problem with this proposition is that it does not take into account the basic operations of this Assembly. I think Mr Moore's comments were quite accurate when he said that this proposal reflects the modus operandi of Mr Stevenson. Mr Stevenson has said, "The people of Canberra deserve a Christmas present. By passing this motion we can give the people of Canberra this Christmas present". Mr Stevenson, 91 per cent of the Canberra population do not want your Christmas present.
Mrs Grassby: They do not want him.
MR LAMONT: That is exactly the case. So, 91 per cent of the people in the ACT, at the last referendum about this question, quite clearly said, "In principle, it is the policies of the Opposition, the Government and the Independents that we want to see introduced". That referendum quite clearly shows that your proposition, and the reasoning behind your proposition, is flawed. It is not giving the people of Canberra a Christmas present to support that. I believe that it puts this whole process into a straitjacket, the likes of which we saw in the last Assembly. Despite his short term as Chief Minister, I am confident that not even Mr Kaine would want to see us back to the absolute nonsense we encountered during the last Assembly as far as the business of this chamber or the business of this Assembly is concerned, as opposed to the business conducted within the chamber.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .