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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (4 November) . . Page.. 3558 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

So, what we end up seeing ourselves signed up to is agreements which have not been scrutinised by this Assembly, and, of course, the Chief Minister attends these COAG meetings with her own mind instead of the mind of the Assembly as scrutinised by the people in it. I think that is where the stark contrast emerges. We did not sign up to agreements without the understanding of the fine print - - -

Mrs Carnell: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker: Mr Berry might like to tell the Assembly what agreements I have signed, because if he is going to speak about them it would be nice to know what we are talking about.

MR BERRY: That is not a point of order. You agreed to the communiques.

Mr Corbell: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker: There is no point of order, and the Government has persistently and wilfully obstructed Mr Berry in speaking on this motion. You have clearly indicated your ruling on the points of order raised by both Mr Kaine and Mrs Carnell, and I would invite you to stop them from continually and persistently obstructing the business of the Assembly.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Corbell, for your advice.

Mrs Littlewood: Mr Corbell is running the Labor Party now. I see. We are going to have another change of leadership.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

MR BERRY: Labor, of course, did not sign up to agreements without understanding what was in them and what was likely to be considered favourably by this Assembly. All we seem to get from this Chief Minister is, "You have to agree. I have signed it". At least, under Labor you got a considered assessment of what this Assembly's position was likely to be before they were signed up.

Now I want to talk about the issue of taxation reform, which was mentioned in the Chief Minister's statement. Is it not amazing that the GST has been brought to light again by John Howard? We are yet to find out what the Chief Minister's position is in relation to this tax. It would have been informative if the Chief Minister had come out with a very clear position in relation to the goods and services tax, although that has not been particularly evident in her public announcements in relation to the matter. It strikes me, Madam Deputy Speaker, that Mrs Carnell has been prepared to go along with her preferred Prime Minister down the path which will ultimately lead us, if her preferred Prime Minister has his way, to a goods and services tax, which, of course, is a regressive tax, which will impact mostly on the not so well off. But, of course, that has never been a concern of the Liberals opposite or their Federal counterparts.

So, Madam Deputy Speaker, I think the message that came from the COAG meeting is rather ominous. The absence of a clear statement from our Chief Minister in relation to the goods and services tax is somewhat troubling, because I would hate her preferred Prime Minister to get the impression that the ACT Legislative Assembly was in some way supportive of a move towards that sort of a tax. I suspect that, if it were put to the test here, it would not survive.

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