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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 464 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

This is not a difficult Bill to understand, Mr Speaker. I made it very clear during the election campaign that I would be introducing a piece of legislation that would stop people from putting advertising on motor vehicles. That is what I am seeking to do. There is nothing tricky about it, but it is not something that has had Cabinet endorsement. My colleagues may well vote against it, and so it should be, just as when Mrs Carnell introduced her piece of legislation about surrogacy other members of her Cabinet voted against it.

Yes, it is different, and that is what frightens them; but underlying that fright is the fact that Labor are embarrassed that they still are not doing any work. You will remember, Mr Speaker, the number of pieces of legislation that Labor introduced in the last Assembly. The number of contributions they made in a positive way was minimal. It was certainly much lower than that for the crossbenchers. What they were good at was saying, "No, no, no, you cannot do this; you cannot do that; you cannot do the other". That is what they were good at, and that is what they are repeating here. Jon Stanhope stood up in this place when he made his very first speech and said, "You are going to see a different approach from Labor. This is the new Labor. This is the Labor that will be working positively and together to try to get what is best for the people of the ACT".

I have no problem with people opposing this piece of legislation if they have good reason, but why prevent me from tabling it? Why prevent me from trying to do the work, as I see it, for the people of the ACT? Are Labor frightened that they will be exposed because I can do my work as the Minister for Health and also do some work in addition to that as Michael Moore, an ordinary member of the Assembly? I think that is what they are frightened of. If I do more of that, they will be even more embarrassed, because they are not out there doing positive work.

We were expecting to see a different approach from the new Labor. I hope that they will reconsider their position now and that they will take a new approach, accept that we want the best possible outcome for the people of Canberra and do a bit of work in order to achieve that. I ask them to reconsider their position and allow me to put up a piece of legislation that we can then debate so that we can determine what is in the best interests of the people of Canberra.

MR BERRY (11.33): Mr Speaker, Labor is not opposed to change. In fact, we are prepared to deal with change in an open and consultative way if we are approached to discuss it. I raise one issue which I think will embarrass Mr Moore and the Government. At the Government business meeting where Executive business for the week is discussed, this matter was not even raised.

Mr Humphries: It is not Executive business; that is why.

MR BERRY: According to today's program, it is. It is listed under "Executive Business" as "Presentation of Bill, by leave". You say that it is not Executive business?

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