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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4849 ..

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, it is relevant. That is the very point I am making. We are discussing a motion about whether we need assistance or not. When you are totally incompetent you probably do not need any assistance. When you have a situation like that you do not have to worry about it. They are just going to go along with the Government. We just get the Labor-Liberal combination again. The Government must be laughing all the way to the polls, actually, because whenever they are doing anything controversial the Labor Party just say, "That is all right. We will support you. Do not worry about it". The real opposition then has to get to work to see whether we can do something about it. Mr Speaker, it is an unbelievable piece of incompetence that we see over there.

MR BERRY (5.03): Mr Speaker, Mr Moore quite clearly does not understand the situation. The fact of the matter is that he was elected to participate in a Westminster style of government, and the fact that - - -

Mr Moore: That is your problem, Wayne. You have not realised that this Assembly has a few modifications and differences.

MR SPEAKER: Proceed, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: The Government is entitled to have advisers in the chamber. My understanding of the situation is that those advisers are in place to assist in responding to the debate, particularly in the detail stage when the Minister may have a question of the bureaucracy. He is able to ask that question and get technical advice in respect of the matter and so respond to debate, particularly in the detail stage.

A quite different situation is being proposed here in relation to this matter. Mr Moore and others have proposed a whole range of Bills. It is very easy for Independents and the Greens to demonstrate that they are doing something by dredging through legislation, looking for every little amendment, to make out a case that they are particularly competent. Mr Moore mischievously misinterpreted my interjection in relation to this matter when I informed him that the reason we do not need advisers in this place is that we are competent.

Mr Moore: I was sure you said "incompetent".

MR BERRY: It was a very mischievous piece of work, Mr Moore. The fact is that I am elected to sit in this place in opposition and I do not really need my staff to sit beside me. If Mr Moore and others would like us all to have our staff down here all of the time, then maybe it would be fine for him. It might be a relief for us if he went on holidays and left his lovely staff down here. The fact is that he was elected to take a place in this chamber and argue the case. If he does not feel he is able to do it without his staff, I am very - - -

Debate interrupted.

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