Page 34 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 22 February 1994
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Madam Speaker, the reason why I alluded to this statement made in the house on Thursday, 9 December, by the current chairman of the Select Committee on the Establishment of the ACT Public Service was so that the sheer and arrant nonsense proposed in this MPI was exposed for what it is. There is obviously great dissension within the Liberal Party. It is obvious, by Mr Kaine's own admission, that the rest of the party are not talking to him. They have attempted to set him up and to shanghai him into something that he does not know about. I feel sorry for Mr Kaine; but, Madam Speaker, it really does make a mockery of this MPI. Not only does it make a mockery of this MPI; I would submit that it also makes a mockery of a resolution of this Assembly which appointed the Select Committee on the Establishment of the ACT Public Service, a committee which I believe has worked extremely well and diligently to this point in time.
Mr Kaine: I take a point of order, Madam Speaker. I really do have to ask you to bring the speaker back to the subject. What we are talking about is lost opportunities on the part of the Government. We are not talking about the select committee. We are not talking about what it did in the past, or what it might do in the future, or what its membership might be. That has nothing to do with the matter of public importance that is before the Assembly for debate now. I suggest that Mr Lamont bring himself back to debate the subject matter that is before the house. Anything else is sheer speculation, as I said before.
MADAM SPEAKER: Proceed, Mr Lamont.
MR LAMONT: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for your direction. On the simple basis that I think the Opposition have embarrassed themselves enough this afternoon, I will now sit down.
MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (4.14): Madam Speaker, I am very surprised that those opposite do not believe that the issue of a stand-alone public service is possibly the greatest matter of public importance that this Assembly could be debating today. Certainly, the Liberal Party believe that. The opportunities that a stand-alone public service gives the ACT are the envy of every other State government, and I am sure the Commonwealth Government as well. Unfortunately for them, they do not have this opportunity; but we do. It is also very unfortunate that the Chief Minister is choosing to ignore that. She used in her speech the comment that this is not about micro-economic reform; it is about mechanics. Micro-economic reform is what every other public service in this country has been subject to for the last number of years. It is the reason why other public services in this country are starting to look like efficient operations, ones that people can be very proud of being part of and ones that encourage their public servants to be proud. I think that is what we all want for the ACT public service.
I think it was very unfortunate that the Chief Minister used the opportunity to pan the Opposition and really gave absolutely no information about what was going to happen with our new stand-alone public service when she spoke to the new graduate administrative public servants last week. The inappropriateness of using that forum to pan the Opposition was totally unbelievable. I use this forum to ask the Chief Minister for equal time. Public servants are supposed to be apolitical. The Liberal Party believes that the only way that the ACT can work appropriately is if our public service is kept as non-political as is possible.
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