In a week of frustration at the heart of government, the debating chamber, it has been felt most acutely by a new deputy.
In an atmosphere where some were alleging filibustering and deliberate delaying of proceedings, arch anti-GST campaigner David Goy was left shattered, weeks of work appearing to have effectively gone up in smoke, when the rules of procedure were used first to marginalise his productivity incentivisation tax idea and then to silence it.
The moves felt acutely unfair, and many in the community agreed. Whether Deputy Goy was too bullish about his intentions, ill-advised about how to secure a workaround, or simply too robust in his overall approach, it certainly seemed that he was hard done-by.
It’s very likely that PIT went too far for many, but it can’t be denied that he put the work in to develop what he called a ‘smarter, fairer alternative to GST, higher taxes, and public service cuts’.
For that to be denied a debate by the minutiae of the rule book, while hours were wasted on a base level debate to secure a referendum on the GST issue, is a poor look.
As, indeed, was the pace of proceedings this past week. Whether deliberate filibustering or meandering indolence, the lack of focus in States debates is a worrying trend that cannot reflect well on the business of government.
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