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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 9 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 2663 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

in this case, I have to say it is most reprehensible and it is not something that the 17 members of the place ought to countenance. Not just myself, not just four crossbenchers, but every member of this Assembly could do nothing else but support this motion and make it clear that that kind of action is unacceptable.

MS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (11.15): Mr Deputy Speaker, I do not plan to speak all that long on this motion, because I think I have made my position and the position of government very clear on numerous occasions. The Government will be opposing this motion. As Chief Minister, I take the responsibility for setting staff allowances for non-Executive members very seriously. I have thought long and hard about this kind of request from Mr Kaine both in the past and in this motion he puts before us today. Let us cut to the chase right here. Mr Kaine believes that he is entitled to an increase in his staff allowance and wants the Government, or the taxpayers, to find the extra $28,000 a year that this would cost somewhere else in the Assembly budget. I would be very interested to find out from the Clerk where he planned to find it. I do not think that is a fair thing to do to any person who looks after a budget - all of our budgets are pretty tight - but that is what this motion boils down to. Mr Kaine has a seat in this Assembly for one reason only, and that is that he was a member of the Canberra Liberal team that contested the ACT elections in February this year. In fact, in the seat of Brindabella Mr Kaine received only the third highest number of first preference votes out of the five Liberal candidates who stood.

Mr Kaine: I got more than Mr Humphries or Mr Hird.

MS CARNELL: I am talking about in Brindabella.

Mr Kaine: And I think more than Mr Cornwell as well.

MS CARNELL: Mr Deputy Speaker, I was absolutely silent during Mr Kaine's speech.

MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: True, yes. Order!

MS CARNELL: The Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth, received 8,956 votes, Louise Littlewood received 3,918 votes and Mr Kaine received 3,422 votes. Mr Kaine did not attract a quota in his own right. He was elected with the help of preferences - - -

Mr Berry: I will have salary allocations based on my vote then.

MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The first speaker was heard in silence. That procedure should continue.

MS CARNELL: He was elected with the help of preferences from his Liberal colleagues at the time, one of whom, Ms Littlewood, missed out on winning Mr Kaine's seat by approximately 50 votes. Mr Kaine stood as a Liberal, he campaigned as a Liberal and he was a Liberal when he entered the Assembly, whether it was in 1989 or after the election this year. Somewhere upstairs in my office I have a poster that identifies him - shock, horror - as one of Kate Carnell's Canberra Liberals, hard to believe.

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