Page 6 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 May 1989
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MR KAINE: I accept the fact that, in order to commence the proceedings of this Assembly today, a set of standing orders was required and has been produced for our consideration. I would like to note, however, that as far as the Liberal Party in this body is concerned they are only interim instructions and as soon as the procedures committee of this Assembly is established I will move a motion at the time that these interim instructions - and I express this very strongly - should be referred to the procedures committee for review and that they be turned into a set of standing orders that are appropriate, not to the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth Parliament, but appropriate to the proceedings of this Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory.
There are one or two things that I would like specifically to comment upon. For example, I note that, unless some contrary motion is put to the Assembly, this Assembly shall not meet until 2.30 on the afternoon of any day of sitting. That is unacceptable. It is ridiculous that the Assembly should meet from only 2.30 in the afternoon on any day. There is a great deal of work that has to be done by this Assembly in the next month. I am quite sure that the officers of the Australian Capital Territory Administration sitting behind me could produce an enormous amount of work that has been in abeyance pending the establishment of this Assembly. We cannot proceed on the basis that the Assembly will meet only from 2.30 in the afternoon on any sitting day. That matter will have to be amended very quickly, and may not even be permitted to wait until the procedures committee can examine the matter. We should consider at our very next meeting changing that particular element of the interim standing orders to make sure that we do a day's work and produce results that the electorate of this city and this Territory expect of us.
I simply foreshadow that, although they may be acceptable for today's purposes as interim standing orders, they will not remain so for very long. They need radical amendment and we will be asking for them to be amended.
MR COLLAERY: The parties in this Assembly have already agreed to Mr Kaine's proposal, as far as I know, and the leaders of the parties in this Assembly have already agreed that the business of the day should commence perhaps at 11 am. I thank Mr Kaine for conveying the message from the Chief Minister.
Question resolved in affirmative.
TITLE OF PRESIDING OFFICER
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister) (by leave): Sub-section 11(2) of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act
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