Page 5349 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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I think the next best thing to not having self-government in 1990 would have been to have what was suggested early on in the piece; that is, a collegiate government, or the sort of parliament where everybody was part of the government and where people, indeed, worked together in genuine harmony. I think that would be a far better thing than what we have in this Assembly where we have an Opposition. I do not necessarily think we should be in opposition to anything.
If there is one thing that would be good for 1991 it would be more opportunity to really work together - notwithstanding that we might not be able to get rid of self-government yet - and to use the abilities that each of the members has to bring about those things that people in Canberra want, because I think it is true that only by working together in this Assembly and by people in Canberra working together with us will we achieve the goals that most people have.
World Problems : Valedictory
MR STEFANIAK (1.20 am): Mr Speaker, I rise to make a few points, the first one being, I suppose, that I have already missed out on the raffle. Probably no-one is going to win the Cherry Ripe at the end of the day. I did note that someone was down at about 1.40. You are probably still in there, Michael. Before the traditional thanks, I suppose I should refer to a number of points raised by Mr Wayne Berry in relation to some serious things about this year. All I would like to say is that, coming up to the festive season, I think we are still very lucky here in Canberra, and indeed in Australia, compared with so many other parts of the world.
Look at what is happening around the world. There might be a war in the Middle East. Countries such as Cambodia have had longstanding problems. Indeed, the dreaded Khmer Rouge might get back there. There are problems of starvation in the Third World and, indeed, problems even in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe where people are certainly not nearly as fortunate as we are. So I think we should perhaps contemplate, on a serious note, just how fortunate we really are in Australia and in Canberra and how some of the problems that might seem so major to us, and have seemed so major in Canberra over the years, are so minuscule compared with some of the real difficulties faced by people in less fortunate countries than ours.
Mr Speaker, to you, to the other members of this Assembly, my colleagues, thank you very much for an at times trying but basically very enjoyable and sometimes quite entertaining year. To the staff, especially the secretariat staff - and indeed, some of your own staff, Mr Speaker, with whom I have had a lot of dealings in my role
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