Page 1999 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 24 October 1989
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The chairman of that committee has indicated that he will be moving a certain number of amendments, contrary to the recommendations of the committee. The Government has also indicated that it has a number of amendments to the Bill, the list of which is as long as your arm and none of which follow the recommendations of the committee. Therefore, one must ask: what are we going to do with the committee's recommendations? Surely the whole purpose of having a committee in the first place was for the members of the Assembly to look at all aspects relating to this legislation and to make recommendations about it. Yet we now find what I regard to be the very strange situation in which parties, members, groups of members, alliances, sub-alliances and rumps are moving amendments to this Bill. To me, it does not make much sense.
I am probably going to surprise everybody in this Assembly by saying that our party's view is that the only amendments to the original legislation which should even be looked at by this Assembly are those recommended by the committee. To me it is ludicrous to have people spend a lot of time and effort, have community groups spend hours or days preparing submissions to committees, and have them all written up in nice black-and-white form, only then to have everyone say, "Well, that is the committee's recommendation but what we really want, what is really best, is comprised in all these amendments". I think the situation is ludicrous.
There is no question about the fact that a Bill relating to occupational health and safety is long overdue in this Territory. The Bill, as originally proposed by the Government, contained a number of features which a lot of people in this community felt were simply unacceptable. The committee has looked at those points and has made recommendations along those lines.
As far as I am concerned - and my party agrees - if the committee is going to go to the trouble of making recommendations we will support them. We are not prepared to have last-minute negotiations with people huddled over the desks in this place trying to work out some suitable compromise. The committee has done the work, and I have faith in the committee system and the members of this committee.
Accordingly, when we come to the detail stage of this Bill the only amendments that we will be contemplating are those that have been recommended by the committee. We will not be tolerating private points of view, party points of view or special interest groups' points of view. The committee has examined these issues ad nauseam; I think that is the way to put it.
Mr Collaery: Were you on it?
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