Page 4320 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 20 November 1990
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In relation to ministerial travel we ought also to have a look at paragraph 5.74 of the Estimates Committee report in relation to which, again, no-one in the Government commented. The final sentence of that paragraph states:
The Committee was surprised to learn that, although the Chief Minister administers the Program for Ministerial travel, he does not consider himself accountable for decisions by Ministers to travel.
I find that an extraordinary comment to be made in an Estimates Committee report. Even more extraordinary, Mr Speaker, is the fact that not one of these Ministers, this bunch of hypocrites, has seen fit to comment upon that. I find the fact that the Ministers outspent the Labor Government on travel by an enormous amount and that the Chief Minister, their Treasurer, does not consider himself accountable for that, an absolutely parlous state of affairs. Of course, they have been too embarrassed to comment upon it. The Chief Minister is most unwilling to take responsibility for a bunch of Ministers that he can neither control nor direct nor in any way bring to order. That has been the shape of this debate tonight. It has been a farce from start to finish. In no way has the Government addressed the issues raised by its Estimates Committee.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS
MR SPEAKER: Mr Moore, do you wish to make a personal explanation?
MR MOORE: I do. Mr Speaker, I would like to clarify some of the things that the Chief Minister said. The first point is that, whilst I have asked many questions on travel, at no stage have I accused anybody of junketeering; nor have I made any of those claims. On the contrary, I have made quite positive comments about that.
That aside, the comments that I made were primarily about the inappropriate way in which travel was acquitted. Again, this evening, I mentioned the $180 that Mr Collaery still has outstanding, which could easily be acquitted and appropriately taken care of.
The Chief Minister, Mr Duby and Mr Collaery have suggested that I have taken trips for personal gratification. Let me tell you, first of all, that I enjoy very much being with my family and that at no stage have I taken a trip for personal gratification. That should be further emphasised by the fact that any trip that I have taken on behalf of this Assembly was approved and recommended first of all by the committee and then by the Standing Committee on
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