Page 2592 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 2013
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the Opposition, to his credit, has put a bill forward to allow that to happen. The only people standing in the way of a larger ministry are in fact the current ministers, who obviously do not want to vote for it—the select club that do not want any of the backbenchers in—and the backbench that do not have the guts to stand up for it.
Any of them could cross the chamber and get that up. Then there would be an option for the Chief Minister to have the additional member in her ministry. But I do not think the love letter technique works. I do not think 500 recommendations of “We love everything you do, every single thing you do; commend, commend, commend, commend, commend, commend, commend!” works. It is certainly—
Mr Hanson: Five hundred and seventy-five.
MR SMYTH: Five hundred and seventy-five times. It will go down—even Mr Barr had a little bit of a slight chuckle—
Mr Hanson: You would have to say that it is the worst dissenting report ever, wouldn’t you?
MR SMYTH: I am not sure it is a dissenting report. I am not sure what it dissents from. Mr Rattenbury says they have promised to give us all the detail. I think there was an old Shirley Bassey song, “Promises, promises, that’s all you’re good for”. We hear promises time and time again from the government, but they are never fulfilled. They are never fulfilled. They are never carried through. Mr Barr is going to check whether it is Shirley Bassey. He is worried now. He is there on the internet checking. I think it is a Shirley Bassey song.
Promises are well and good. But people remember what you did and all they know is that their rates are going up; all they know is that debt is going up; all they know is that we have got a government that is not more open and more accountable. The new era arrived. It was probably a cold dawn, that new era of openness and accountability. It has been frost-burdened ever since. Here is an opportunity to actually make a commitment—
Members interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Hanson and Mr Barr, you are not having a conversation across the chamber.
MR SMYTH: Here is an opportunity to make these documents available. Here is an opportunity to say that you actually can prove what you believe, that you know what you are saying is true, and they are going to squib it. Yet again the Treasurer will squib it. He says, “Look, it is not material.” I think most people think that potentially $100 million is a pretty large number, particularly when—
Mr Barr: It is not $100 million, Brendan.
MR SMYTH: You know it is not $100 million?
Mr Barr: It is not $100 million.
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