Page 766 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 13 April 1994
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MR KAINE: Madam Speaker, I seek leave to make a short statement on this matter.
Leave granted.
MR KAINE: After a long day yesterday, a late night, and a short time in bed, I came in this morning feeling that I would need to go soft on Wayne Berry and that the hard nose-to-nose confrontation might not be appropriate today; but I can see that that is not necessary. Wayne is still as pugnacious and as belligerent as ever. Like Muhammad Ali, he is still dancing like a butterfly, and I presume that he has a sting like a bee. It is obvious that neither I nor any of my colleagues need to go soft on him today. We know what the ground rules are, and that is fine.
As to the future, I think that those of us who aspire to have a long career in this place need to have some personal attributes such as the ones that Greg Cornwell talked about yesterday - integrity, commitment and perseverance. I think Wayne Berry has those, so I expect to see him around and to be working with him for some years yet. If the Chief Minister is interested in what she might ask him to do, I would be happy to have him on the Public Accounts Committee. I think he would make a great contribution there.
In the list of achievements and things that Wayne hopes for the future, there was one notable omission. I hope that, as Secretary to the Cabinet with still some influence there, he puts on the list the provision of a $3m stadium for the ACT's AFL team. I cannot think of anything better than to have the Canberra Lions playing at Jesaulenko Oval somewhere in Canberra; so, in anticipation of Wayne still being around for a while, maybe he might put that on his list of things to be done. Madam Speaker, I know that we are eating into private members time, but as one who has had the experience I have to say to Wayne that there is life after high government office. I know of your interest in old cars and I am restoring an old car. If you have some spare time you might come down and help me fix my Valiant.
Mr Stevenson: Did you say "a Valiant"?
MR KAINE: Mine is even older than Dennis's. Finally, I offer Wayne an invitation to meet me, either in his office or mine, whenever it is mutually convenient, with the objective of forming a new club, the Featherdusters Club. At the moment there would be only a limited number of members, but I am sure that in the future there will be others who would want to join us. We can consider things like the logo, which would probably be a bunch of ostrich feathers. I have already invented a new secret sign that we might adopt in this Featherdusters Club.
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