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Mr Berry: Who does that?

MRS CARNELL: I assume, nobody, Mr Berry, which means that if we are not here we are doing other things on behalf of the community.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Pursuant to temporary order 77, the extended time allotted for Assembly business has expired.

Motion (by Mr Moore) agreed to, with the concurrence of an absolute majority:

That so much of the standing and temporary orders be suspended as would prevent consideration of this motion continuing beyond the time allotted to Assembly business and taking precedence of Executive business for the remainder of this sitting.

MRS CARNELL: The approach that has been taken, on this side anyway, with Mr Moore has been just a straight commonsense approach: How much does it cost? Are we actually getting value for the taxpayer's dollar - not our dollar, but the taxpayer's dollar? The answer has been that what we should be doing is not sitting on Tuesday nights but being out in the community. That is from our side. That is our view on this. We will get better value for the taxpayer's dollar by not sitting on Tuesday night, or at least seeing whether that works over a period of a few months. I think that is a very commonsense approach; it is a pragmatic approach; and, fascinatingly, that is what city council-style government is about. It is not about sitting at night. If it were about sitting at night, we would sit only at night, and we would probably all do it for nothing, because we would not be paid or we would be part time.

The approach of city council-style government, as we see it, is to be less adversarial and more commonsense in our approach, which is exactly what we are attempting to do here, and actually look at ways in which we might improve how we run this place. This may or may not work. We have tried the other approach for six years. I see no problem. I see it as being a very positive step to try a different approach for the next few months. If it does not work, we will swap back. Maybe the answer is that we should sit every night. Maybe that is the best approach. We do not believe so. We believe that the cost to the community compared to the value that the community puts on late night sittings is simply too much for the benefit that we are seeing. So, that is the approach. It is as simple as that. It is a commonsense approach. It also says that we are willing to look at new and different approaches to the way we run the Assembly, with a view to getting a better outcome for the people of Canberra. All this week, all we have heard from the Opposition is, “No change. We will not change anything. We cannot change anything”. We have to change things to work better. The fact is that, when we are not here, we are working. We assume that you are, too.

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