Page 1171 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 August 1989
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Much of what has been initiated has been so initiated only with the support of the opposition parties in the interests of stability and for the benefit of the community. If the Government members think they have had our goodwill and support for any other reason, I can assure them they are wrong. Some of what has been initiated has been the result of initiative by the opposition, even against the objections of the Government. As an example, I quote the current inquiry being conducted by the Social Planning Committee on the needs of the ageing - a Liberal initiative opposed by the Government.
Some of the Government's initiatives have been greatly modified by the opposition, to the Government's dismay and discomfort. Here the outstanding example is the Occupational Health and Safety Bill. Three months ago this was the Government's top priority. It was needed immediately. Now, after being modified greatly by the opposition, the Bill is on the back burner. The Government's wish is that it never sees the light of day because the unions do not want it in its present form. But curiously, the Chief Minister still claims it as one of her achievements in the first 100 days. That is quite astonishing, I submit.
There is much that the Government has done in its first 100 days that it would wish not to claim. Noticeable amongst these is its blatant politicisation of even the most trivial administrative act or event. A couple of examples make my point: advertisements in the print media dealing with the asbestos removal program, containing a photograph of the responsible Minister, for crying out loud; a glamour launch of an ACTION bus timetable, which commuters have to buy if they need one; a piddling $2,000 cheque to the conservationists being handed out by the Chief Minister, one of a series of cheques from public funds being handed out by Ministers for purely political purposes. The CDF is becoming a little goldmine for these ceremonies, so it is no wonder the Government has reneged on its promise to abolish it.
The list is endless, even in the short life of this Government, and I am sure that other members will add to it during this debate. The opposition members, on whose goodwill the entire minority Labor Government edifice rests, find this behaviour grossly offensive, and I believe the taxpaying public do too.
I referred earlier to the arrogance of this Labor minority Government. This reflects in some most trivial of ways: for example, the arrogation by the Chief Minister to herself and her Ministers of the right to use the only media room available. Non-government members and the media can do their work in the rain, the hail or the sleet in the public square outside the building. No bread; let them eat cake. I would ask the Chief Minister to remember what happened to the lady who said that. Such small-minded assumptions of
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