Page 4091 - Week 13 - Thursday, 31 October 2013
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the layout or modus operandi of the current residents of offices on the second floor. Clearly, I have no experience yet of being in government and no experience or familiarity with the communication process of this government or, more particularly, this cabinet. But I realise that the size of this place is not on the scale of, say, federal parliament where the House of Representatives has 150 members who may not know everyone. At last count this place had 17 members, which includes one Chief Minister and four ministers. I make the presumption that cabinet meetings include the Chief Minister and her four ministers.
So this leads to a number of queries I have for the current minister for TAMS, corrections, housing, ageing and indigenous affairs. Is Mr Rattenbury not included in cabinet meetings? Does the minister not feel able to speak with the current minister for education? Does the current minister for education refuse to speak with the current minister for TAMS et al? Does the current minister for TAMS et al not feel able to pick up the phone and speak with the current minister for education? Is the current minister for TAMS et al unable to find the current minister for education’s office? Is the current minister for TAMS et al afraid of the current minister for education? Does the current minister for TAMS et al feel that the education portfolio is not in appropriate hands? Does the current minister for TAMS et al not have confidence in how the current minister for education is progressing issues within her portfolio? Does the current minister for TAMS et al have a desire to change the portfolios? Does the current minister for TAMS et al not have enough work in his own portfolio? Does the current minister for TAMS et al want the opposition to speak with the Chief Minister on his behalf to advise how unhappy he is in his own portfolio, if that is the case? Does the current minister for TAMS et al have a yearning to be part of the opposition side of politics and become part of private members’ business on Wednesdays? Is the minister suffering from an undiagnosed relevance deprivation disorder?
These are obviously troubling times for the current minister for TAMS. Clearly, he is conflicted. Is he a backbench Green? Is he a frontbench watermelon—green on the outside and red on the inside? Perhaps the opposition can assist the minister in his conflicted state. Would it assist the minister if we were able to put into words what he is trying to say, because this must be what he is implying by this motion. Would it help, minister, if we moved an amendment expressing a lack of confidence in the current education minister? Would it help if we moved a further amendment calling on the Chief Minister to undertake a cabinet reshuffle and install the current minister for TAMS into the education portfolio? As an aside, I can only say that he could not possibly do any worse a job than the current one, but then people with an interest in education are used to getting short-changed with their ministers.
To be serious, this is an insult to parliamentary process and a farce. On a purely financial level, what cost is it to have this matter debated here today and to what purpose? Let us look at the time line here, Mr Rattenbury. The minister established a task force to examine students with learning difficulties, and it reported in June this year. In September, the minister released her response advising that the government had agreed with all the recommendations. It is now only October and already Minister Rattenbury is having doubts that the minister will not progress the recommendations. By comparison, Mr Rattenbury takes longer to answer some of his
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