Page 3084 - Week 14 - Thursday, 7 December 1989
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in speaking to this motion for the suspension of standing orders. I believe - and we are all aware of it - that the reputation of the Assembly over the last six months has been getting worse and worse. We have seen it in polls - - -
Mr Kaine: Yes, under the Follett Government.
MR MOORE: We have seen it on many occasions. Mr Kaine says that it was under the Follett Government. I do not disagree with that. What we have now, though, is the potential to improve. So we have to have this particular problem resolved. It is quite appropriate, therefore, that the motion for the suspension of standing orders be supported by the Government so that they can resolve this matter before they start and so that their reputation and that of the whole Assembly is not sullied. That is the problem. The risk in what is happening is that this Assembly will become laughable.
I have had a number of phone calls on this very matter, Mr Speaker, from people saying, "Isn't it strange that we have already got this split between the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister? Either one is not frank or the other one has been misleading the Assembly". This is a major problem that must be addressed now. If we have a potential Deputy Chief Minister who misleads the Assembly or a Chief Minister who misleads the public, we have a major problem on our hands which should be resolved now.
Last night I was delighted to have the opportunity to go to the Backstage Cafe. There, over dinner and a show, one particular song poked fun at the Assembly during the time of the Follett Government. In itself it was a fine song, and it is appropriate in a democracy that people should be able to enjoy having a shot. However, the major risk is that those shots, those things that are said in jest, can become things that are said seriously, and this is the sort of problem that we are dealing with.
What we need to present to Canberrans is honesty in government, and that is why it is so critical that this be discussed now. It is not a question of whether or not this is true, and it is not a question, I believe, of whether - if I may quote Mr Whalan - Mr Kaine was mendacious or Mr Collaery was mendacious. It is about reassuring the people of the ACT and this Assembly that there is going to be honesty and openness in government.
We have this small problem about open government which needs to be cleared up. Already people are concerned that the Government is going to be less open because the decisions will be made in a closed joint party room instead of on the floor of this Assembly, as they were under the minority Government. The minority Government made its party room decisions in the Cabinet, and then they could be challenged on the floor of the Assembly. Now we will have a situation in which the joint party room will make a
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