Page 3191 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 11 September 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Welfare Grants
MR SPEAKER: I call Mr Collaery.
Mr Connolly: He is not in the chamber. He is not on the floor.
MR COLLAERY: My question - - -
Mr Connolly: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is an extraordinary position for the Speaker to give the call to a member who is not present on the floor of the house, when two other members - Mrs Grassby and Mr Stefaniak - are standing and seeking the call. We can accept that for reasons of fairness and equity you may keep a list so that all members get a fair go at question time; but it is an extraordinary proposition to give the call to a member who is not even present in his place in the chamber. Are we going to call a member out from giving a media interview and bring him in to ask a question? You really ought to give acknowledgment to members on their feet, perhaps in a roundabout order, but not to members who are wandering about in the public regions having chit chats.
MR SPEAKER: I take your advice on that, Mr Connolly. I thank you for the information presented to me. I call Mr Collaery.
MR COLLAERY: My question is to the Chief Minister. On 30 July 1991, along with other State Premiers, you put your signature to a communique issued at the conclusion of the Premiers Conference. That communique included a commitment to continue to review the question of tied grants in the welfare area. In view of the statements by one of your chief political admirers, Mr Martin Attridge, the director of National Shelter, that you have carried the battle to prevent the untying of those grants, will you assure this house that, in signing that communique, you did not mean to endorse continued negotiations on the untying of grants in the welfare area? Will you assure community organisations that you will have no part of this crass politics?
MS FOLLETT: To the extent that Mr Collaery's question makes any sense at all, I would first of all recommend that he read the communique. His comments of last night about what he referred to as resource development indicate that he has been extremely muddle-headed in his appreciation, if you could call it that, of the communique in practically every aspect. I am sure other members know that the question of tied grants was addressed in a preliminary way at the last Special Premiers Conference and will be addressed in a much more detailed way at the next Special Premiers Conference, which is to be held in November. Mr Collaery, is his inimitable fashion, has referred to some of these matters as crass politics. He could not even think up a new phrase, but had to imitate one that has had some currency lately.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .