Page 1691 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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This might be only a little Assembly that is not taken as seriously as we might like it to be by our constituents, but I do not think Mr Hargreaves’s behaviour assists us in any way. I also note that that sort of behaviour requires two participants and not just one. Assembly members seem to believe that it is okay, that it is de rigueur, to behave like that, to shout abuse at one another, to insult one another and to be rude. Sometimes it is humorous and we laugh, and sometimes it is not and we do not laugh. We try to say to ourselves, “I will not take this personally because that person does not really know me.”
However, I believe that committees are a different matter; they are the strength of this Assembly. On the whole I enjoy working on the Select Committee on Estimates even though I groan when it begins every year because it is such an arduous process. What matters a great deal is how committee members relate to one another and to the committee secretary. What also matters is how ministers behave when they come into the room with their officials whom I would have thought they would be trying to impress or at least convince that they had authority and good knowledge of the areas in which they work.
It should also be remembered that those hearings are televised and that members of the community read the transcripts. So it is not a series of meetings in a private little room; it is this Assembly’s way of scrutinising the budget in a major way. On the whole ministers who appear before the Select Committee on Estimates seem to be quite relaxed and enter into the spirit of the committee, having previously served as members of committees. They disclose information when they are asked questions and when they are not able to do so they refer matters to their officials, who turn out to have more information.
It was downright pleasant to be in estimates committee hearings with Mr Corbell and Ms Gallagher. On those days we got information, not always as much as we wanted, and the atmosphere was generally cordial, which I think is a good thing. But why do we have to steel ourselves, which is what I tend to have to do, because a particular minister is appearing? I am never sure what Mr Hargreaves will say to me or to the organisations from whom the Greens seek advice or whose policies we agree with. That is what occurred in the estimate committee hearings. I am sure that the committee report contains extracts of transcripts in which some of the usual things were said.
When Mr Hargreaves appears before the Select Committee on Estimates he should shed the schoolboy image that he adopts to impress his mates. I am not sure what goes on but, as a teacher, I have seen this behaviour many times. When he comes into the committee room he should shed that schoolboy image and appear as a minister in charge of his portfolios. Ministers appear before the committee to give it information and, when they cannot do so, they must find that information and provide it later to the committee.
Ministers in a majority government should not be bully boys. I do not know what it feels like but I am sure it is good to be in a majority government. However, that does not give ministers licence to whip those who are not in majority government and who cannot be in this session of the Assembly. As a witness Mr Hargreaves should be
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