Page 338 - Week 03 - Thursday, 1 June 1989
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sure that they are being dealt with in an objective way by the Government.
We can look forward to an open government which was promised during the election campaign and which the people of Canberra expect from this Assembly. Mr Stefaniak pointed to the fact that he had been prosecutor in a number of cases of blue-collar crime in the ACT. Mr Collaery defended one of those people, as Mr Stefaniak would probably recall.
Let me also draw attention to the fact that one of the things that has been most significant in the minds of people in Canberra is the tragic slaying of our police commissioner. In that case there have been a number of television programs and a number of indications that things are not right. To have an inquiry now that puts people's minds to rest so that they can feel that things are put right could well be a most appropriate way to go about it.
Let me refer now to some of the comments that the Chief Minister made about the allegations made by the Rally, about the general approach, about cheap headlines, and those other connotations that the Chief Minister put. It is exactly the same sort of line that was used in Queensland in the last few years.
Finally, when an inquiry came, there was a very different attitude. I sincerely hope that we will have no Queensland here. And I believe that that is not the case because, as many people have said and as the Rally believes, the vast majority of business people are honest. The vast majority of public servants are honest, and it can only be in their interest to ensure that they are seen to be honest. I think that is why we have such wide-ranging support for this motion today, because they need to be seen to be honest, not just to be honest.
With reference to the unclear motion, the Rally had discussed this and we are happy to accept the amendment that is put by Mr Kaine so that the Public Accounts Committee can set very clear guidelines on a consultative basis. But in terms of the motion being rushed, as Ms Follett has suggested, let us point out that over the next three weeks we are not sitting and there may be some reason to ensure that the air is cleared as quickly as we can and that the Government is seen from the beginning to start on a nice, clean, open basis, and I think that is in the interests of us all.
With reference to giving specific examples, if that was the case - and why this could appear to be rushed - why did the Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister not answer our questions clearly and categorically? I think Mr Pryor in this morning's paper made his view quite clear on how those questions were answered and I believe that it is appropriate that we go about it this way. We perceived it was appropriate to go about it this way, and I think that
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