Page 1855 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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Just from a cursory perusal of the Australian press and the reporting of US domestic politics that gets filtered through the Australian press, we see that Supreme Court appointments, Cabinet level appointments and administrative level appointments become a vicious political bunfight in which the out group throw every bit of dirt that they can find at any appointment made by the in group.
Mr Stevenson: That has not happened here.
MR CONNOLLY: Mr Stevenson, are you suggesting that people do not make grubby little allegations under privilege in this place about members of the administration? Mr Stevenson, that would never happen here? Mr Stevenson, that sort of thing would not happen under this system?
Madam Speaker, this process is fraught with danger. I can see the attraction of it. I can see why Independent members may say, "This makes things more accountable". But the consequences of going down this path will be that every appointment to every executive position has the potential to spark a major partisan political bunfight, and members of the community would be reluctant to serve. Mrs Carnell, for example, was appointed to the Board of Health under a Liberal administration. Nothing was said at the time. Mr Westende's spouse was appointed to the ACTEW board. Again, she served with distinction on that board.
You would expect the Labor Party to scream about those sorts of appointments, were they to happen again, if you had a Liberal government in office. You would expect Opposition members, of whatever party, to challenge all appointments and to get the appointees before committees to cross-examine them. Depending on which party was in power, they would ask, "Were you ever a member of the Labor Party?" or, "Were you ever a member of the Liberal Party?". That sort of scrutiny of every appointment is what happens when you make all executive appointments subject to this sort of partisan attack.
Ms Follett: Remember Aliprandi.
MR CONNOLLY: Indeed, as the Chief Minister says, remember Aliprandi. You people have a track record of trying to do this sort of thing in opposition. Let us face it; if we are in opposition and you are in government, and this sort of thing becomes established, we will use the same tactics. Potentially, we are creating a mechanism to make government unworkable. When Mr Berry said that, you laughed; but you would have to acknowledge that this system, as it is operating in the United States, has made government unworkable. Under this system it would be very difficult to get people to take appointments. If you were prepared to serve in an executive position, you would be brought before a Legislative Assembly committee, your entire personal history would be scrutinised and all sorts of vicious smears would be made under parliamentary privilege by the partisan opponents of whatever party happened to be making the appointment. It is a very dangerous course of action.
If there have been any suggestions about improper appointments in the past, there have always been forums to deal with them. By and large, those forums have not been used, because, by and large, parties have accepted a fair level of tolerance in acknowledging that the government of the day has the ability to appoint whom it wants to these sorts of offices, unless there is some serious conflict of interest or unless somebody of doubtful character is being appointed.
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