Page 3046 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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government business, but you filled the day with three motions that did not have to be done today. We had just about all of the ministers give speeches—
Members interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members! Mr Smyth has the floor.
MR SMYTH: The suggestion is made that members can table their speeches on the budget. Why couldn’t ministers have done that with their tabling speeches with all the papers they presented this afternoon? It is a deliberate ploy; it is a deliberate tactic. You will learn about this. I would have thought that after the second approp, where everything was rushed through and then all the questions came out when we sat here and went through it line by line, you might have learned from that. Obviously you have not.
The problem here is that we are going to devote 40 minutes to Health. You could have come and consulted instead of just delivering the terms and saying, “Here; this is what we’re doing.” There are things like the home loan portfolio; I would be surprised if it takes 15 minutes. There is superannuation; I would be surprised if it takes 15. There is the territory banking account; I would be surprised if it takes 15 minutes. If you look back at last year and previous years, I think you would find that they did not then either. The problem is that this is so arbitrary. It is just unfortunate that the ministers are afraid to stand up and actually debate. These are debates; debates normally involve interaction—
Ms Gallagher: They are not debates, Brendan.
MR SMYTH: Then you should improve your technique.
Members interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members! Mr Smyth has the floor.
MR SMYTH: Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a tradition—a seemingly endless tradition now from the Labor Party—that they do not want a debate on their budget.
Mr Hargreaves: For heaven’s sake, how many speakers per line?
MR SMYTH: We measure up 18 hours a day.
Mr Stanhope: Nine hours so far.
MR SMYTH: Nine hours a day.
Mr Stanhope: Nine hours for five lines.
MR SMYTH: Well, we can sit tomorrow. If you want to adjourn, we can adjourn at midnight and we will come back tomorrow and do it; we will finish it properly—if you want to do it in the daylight hours, if that is the problem. I have never had a job
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