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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 10 Hansard (14 October) . . Page.. 3200 ..
MR RUGENDYKE: It is gunna do it. What a farce! Mr Speaker, this debate highlights the importance of the role of crossbench members in a minority government. Clear-thinking crossbench members in a minority government have the role of keeping the bastards honest. That is someone else's line. To use my words, this is our checking mechanism, as against the Senate. We do not have a Senate, but we have a checking mechanism of clear-thinking and wise crossbench members. The bastards in this case are on both sides of the house. Those on the government side of the chamber do not want to see this inquiry done. They do not want to see it done because the committee will be looking at the important issue of whether the Government's contracting and procurement processes work. This Government wants the motion to be knocked off.
The bastards on this side of the house should not be allowed to get off the hook, either. They should not be granted another six months to do something because they have done nothing in the first six months. Begrudgingly, I have circulated an amendment to the motion allowing the chairman to get off his backside and do some work on this very important inquiry.
Mr Quinlan: Tell us about your committee work, Dave.
MR RUGENDYKE: Other members of this place - Mr Quinlan reminds me - go to committee meetings twice a week. Mr Hird goes eight times a week. Religiously, all of us go to them - Education, Chief Minister's, Justice and Community Safety. Committee work is busy work. Thank you for reminding me of that, Mr Quinlan. This is one committee, a select committee, that has done nothing. Hooray, it has written a letter! Hooray, it wrote a letter two weeks ago!
Mr Osborne: We got a submission, too, did we not?
MR RUGENDYKE: Was it from a plumber?
Mr Osborne: An electrician, I think.
MR RUGENDYKE: Big deal! Mr Speaker, this is an important inquiry. Get on with the work and talk to all those people whose names you read out. Do it before 31 March and give us your report before 31 March. I urge clear-thinking members of the crossbench to support the amendment circulated in my name and keep both sides of the chamber honest. I move:
Proposed new paragraph (3), omit all words after "Committee", substitute "report by 31 March 2000".
MR SMYTH
(Minister for Urban Services) (5.42): If Mr Quinlan is unaware of the work that Mr Rugendyke has done, I suggest that he examine his notice paper because Mr Rugendyke is on the Urban Services Committee - I am not sure what other committees he is on - and I know that the Urban Services Committee has made some 33 reports and a couple of statements in 18 months. On a pro rata basis, dividing that by
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