Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 1 Hansard (28 April) . . Page.. 44 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, it is important that the record show how these committees were established. They are an instrument of the Executive. Mr Osborne rightly says that he has supported such a system of committees for some time, but it is not a system whose origins we should be proud of. The establishment of committees by the Executive tells us all of the things that the people of Queensland were told in the days of the Bjelke-Petersen Government. I am not saying that tomorrow there is going to be widespread corruption in the ACT and that laws will be passed which will immediately infringe the civil liberties of ordinary Canberrans, but to me it is very clearly a starting point.

The Public Accounts Committee is a broad-based committee which has looked carefully at the expenditure of public funds in the ACT over many years. It has developed a proud tradition of being a bipartisan committee, or tripartisan committee involving the crossbenches and all of the political parties. It has been a very successful committee. It has never been criticised. The same applies to the Scrutiny of Bills Committee. In a number of instances these committees have played an important part in the development of legislation and expenditure proposals in the ACT.

Mr Speaker, I rise merely to make a point about how these committees developed and the unsatisfactory level of consultation which occurred with the Labor Party in respect of their development. The development of these committees flies in the face of all of the rhetoric that we hear from the crossbenches and the Government in respect of change. We have heard about inclusiveness; we have heard about the need for a change; we have heard about the need for a less adversarial approach. I read that as trying to create circumstances in which the Government and their supporters have less opposition. It strikes me that this is about them ensuring, if they can, that the people who traditionally oppose the moves of conservative governments are muted in some way. They will not be if you are referring to the Labor Party. Smarter people have tried these sorts of things on us in the past and they have not worked. This is very clearly a movement in direction to try to take some weight off the Government. Mr Speaker, I will leave it there and in due course I will move my amendments.

MR SPEAKER: I think it would be appropriate if you moved them now, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: I can speak to them as well.

MR SPEAKER: Yes. It would then open them up to debate, which I think is sensible.

MR BERRY: Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your advice. The amendments propose the establishment of further committees in the Assembly to deal with the issues of public accounts, scrutiny of Bills, planning and the environment. I seek leave to move my amendments together.

Leave granted.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .