Page 1865 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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MR COLLAERY (11.30): I endorse the comments of the Chief Minister and my colleague Mr Humphries on this matter. The question of such a committee has entertained the minds of the members for some time, particularly since last May. Regrettably, we did not have it put to us as a package by the Government at the time, but now the Chief Minister has come forward with this committee. I am especially grateful that she has moved it this week, as I indicated to her privately last week that this would be a good measure to reassure the population that our Bills will receive proper scrutiny before being brought into law. That is particularly important. As members will acknowledge, we do not have second reading speeches; we do not have second chances with some of the legislation before us. There is a heavily taxed drafting and crown law office, and of course the Territory is new in terms of self-governance. In the view of the Rally, such a committee is and has been a vital requirement.
The tradition for committees of this type is that they be collegiate, professional, and largely peopled with persons of legal background. But I do note that the very successful Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs produced a report on 25 November 1982 on the burden of proof in criminal proceedings. I was interested to see who the members of that committee were. The chairman was Senator Alan Missen, a very great parliamentarian, a man I knew very well and with whom I worked in human rights areas. Other members were Senator Gareth Evans, Senator Noel Crichton-Browne, Senator Robert Hill, Senator Susan Ryan and Senator Michael Tate. That establishes that lawyers do not have a mortgage on committees of this nature but they seem to predominate. Hopefully, we can achieve in this committee a balance between legalism and the straight commonsense that lay persons often display on legal issues.
The establishment of this committee again taxes the resources and finances of this Assembly. It taxes the staffing of the Assembly's committee office and I trust that the Chief Minister will make a statement - after discussions with you, Mr Speaker, and you to may wish to make a statement - about the current staffing resources of the committee structure of this Assembly.
The committee staff are extraordinarily dedicated and we must find a basis for keeping the experienced parliamentary staff who have come across to us from another place and not have them enticed back. I came back to this Assembly last night at quite a late hour and found persons working in the committee office on matters that will shortly be reported upon. Some of those staff were not receiving overtime for those hours; all that one person got was an escort to the car park.
Mrs Grassby: From you, Bernard?
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