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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4791 ..

MR BERRY: The Opposition will be opposing paragraph (2) of the motion. The reasons for that are quite straightforward. These services which deal with emergencies are facing structural changes in one way or another. There is an element of agreement and disagreement in relation to it, but at the end of the day the services have to continue operations. We are not prepared to put in place a motion which closes off all options before the committee of inquiry has had time to look at the issues. How can you make judgments about what should and should not happen until you look at the issues?

Mr Moore: By the complaints about the things that are going wrong.

MR BERRY: You can interject all you like. You can seek leave to speak, too, Mr Moore.

MR SPEAKER: No, he cannot interject.

MR BERRY: The facts of the matter are that the Government knows that, if this inquiry finds that the Government should not proceed with particular changes, then the Government will be forced to reverse any changes it makes. It is as simple as that. You can behave like spoilt kids because part of your motion has been upset, but you have to have some commonsense about the issue.

Mr Osborne: That is the argument I have used many times, Wayne. You said, "Once they start, you cannot turn back. Once they do it, you cannot turn it back. Once they do it, you cannot change".

MR SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Osborne: Hypocrisy, Mr Speaker!

MR BERRY: Front rowers always behave like this in the scrum. They are an intemperate lot. They do not listen to reason.

MR SPEAKER: Do not provoke him, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: They always have a shot at the half-back for not getting the ball in quickly. They are as rough as bags.

Mr Osborne: Half-backs have big mouths and no guts.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR BERRY: I used to be a front rower, would you believe?

Mr Speaker, this is a quite simple approach. The Government and management cannot be manacled in relation to management of emergency services during an inquiry, and that is why we will be opposing paragraph (2) of the motion. If the inquiry finds, in a convincing way, that some of these changes, or all of these changes, need to be reversed, then Labor will take a position which would cause the Government to reverse them. It is as simple as that.

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