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particular detail, to discuss administrative arrangements with various officers and departments, to decide on priorities within the budget framework, to get clear indications of what was possible in terms of future trends with the budget and directions with budget management, and then put together a budget document would have been nearly impossible.

If members think that budgets can be done in three months, from go to whoa, they are seriously mistaken. Budgets these days are almost a 12 months exercise. Some would say longer than 12 months. You have to start to plan for the budget a long time in advance. To deliver a budget, no matter how remarkable you might be as an administrator, no matter how many talents you might have to do these wonderful things without regard to the facts of life, you still have to have a certain amount of time, and that time was not available for this Government to do that properly. I would suggest, Mr Speaker, that it would be very unlikely, if in future years there are changes of government after February elections, that they will be able to deliver budgets in June either. That is my prediction of what will happen in future years.

Ms Follett: We did it in 1989.

MR HUMPHRIES: That budget was already substantially prepared, at the time you took office, by the Commonwealth. You had somebody else there, of the same party, preparing your budget. You hardly started the project from nil with a clean slate or a clean whiteboard as of 11 May 1989.

I heard Ms Follett say that it is shameful that the Government circulated an amendment to this legislation only a short while ago. This is Mrs Carnell's Bill, so I do not comment on that; but let me ask Ms Follett a question, Mr Speaker. I understand that the Opposition has a quite significant amendment to a Bill coming up this afternoon dealing with rates and land tax. I hope, Mr Speaker, that Ms Follett is listening. I understand that Ms Follett has an amendment to the Rates and Land Tax (Amendment) Bill this afternoon, which is coming up very soon. In fact it is the next Bill but one. Where is the amendment? Apparently, members on the cross benches have this rates and land tax amendment that you are going to put forward.

Ms Follett: It has not been circulated? Oh!

MR HUMPHRIES: No, it has not been circulated. “Oh”, said Ms Follett, “It has not been circulated. Oh dear!”. A bit of embarrassment, Mr Speaker, is coming forward from the Opposition benches as well. I think that what is sauce for the goose ought to be sauce for the gander. I understand that these amendments were floating around yesterday in the Assembly. Obviously, it is shameful as well to leave these things to the last minute, Ms Follett.

Finally, I want to touch very briefly on Mr Berry's outrageous and ridiculous suggestion that business confidence in the Government is sliding because it has not delivered its budget in June. That is not the indication that we have. I also have to take strong exception to the suggestion that these particular economic indicators somehow have sprung up since this Government took office three months ago. These indicators were very much in evidence during the previous Government's life. The trends in

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