Falklands : Legislative Council: 26 August 2005 Part 3
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 27.08.2005 (Article Archived on 17.09.2005)
Various subjects were brought up during the Motion for Adjournment Speeches.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: FRIDAY, 26 AUGUST 2005
(Part 3) The Fisheries Conservation and Management Bill 2005:
The Government’s Response and Motion for Adjournment Speeches
Commentary by J. Brock (FINN)
The Fisheries Conservation and Management Bill 2005 was read a second time. When Council resumed in the Committee stage, Clauses 1 to 224 were approved as well as Schedule 1. Schedule 2 had some debate beginning with Cllr. the Hon. Mr. Richard Cockwell.
RC: Sir, I move that Schedule 2 of the Bill before the House shall be deleted and replaced by the form of Schedule 2 I now lay on the table, which has been circulated to Honourable Members.
Cllr. Cockwell’s motion was seconded and the motion was carried. An explanation, however, was given by the Attorney General, Mr. David Lang QC.
The Attorney General Mr. David Lang, QC (DL):
For the benefit of those who don’t understand, Schedule 2, which now had been incorporated in the Bill – that which has been laid on the table – is the form of schedule 2, which appeared in the Bill as Gazetted in May. And, it replaces the form of Schedule 2 in the Bill as Gazetted about 10 days ago. And, the principle affect of that is that the new fishery of Hake that was proposed un the “U” Schedule has been deleted, at least for the time being, from being a separate fishery. And, that the new fishery of Scallop, for the moment, doesn’t appear as a separate fishery.
It is intended that this schedule 2, which has now been replaced, will be reviewed by Executive Council because some of the amendments, which were incorporated in the August version of Schedule 2, which has now been deleted, provided for a year-long fishery in certain of the fisheries and I believe that there may not be any great objection to that proposal. But for the information of the public and of Honourable Members, Schedule 2 is not cast in stone – deliberately not cast in stone because the fishery will inevitably develop a new species. And, the exploitable species may be discovered.
So, the Bill provides for Schedule 2 to be amended or replaced by an order made by the Governor on consultation with Executive Council. And, it may be that some of the proposals, which would be in Schedule 2, which was published earlier this month, will be restored at a later date before the Bill comes into force as an ordinance.
Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 became part of the Bill and the Bill was read a 3rd time and passed by a majority 5 – 2 with one abstention.
THE MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT
The Chief Executive moved that the House stand adjourned Sine Die. Councillors then spoke to the motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. John Birmingham:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, I don’t know whether it’s a rumour, Mr. Speaker, whether you are on page 3 of the newspaper or not. I will find out later on.
I am kicking off today because I am conscious of the time with things moving on and I only have a couple of points to make and that is there is concern in the community in Stanley about the proposed telephone masts around the centre of town. One particular parent rang me up last evening to tell me she was worried about the proposed mast close by the St. Mary’s Playground. And, I found out this morning – I confirmed this morning that actually there is only one mast that has been given planning permission so far and that is the one around about Hillside. The one at St. Mary’s has not been given planning permission yet. There is a planning meeting next week. Information received today by me is that Cable & Wireless may well be thinking seriously of putting their mast somewhere else.
The only other thing I was going to mention, Mr. Speaker, was that tomorrow the Queen’s Baton arrives in the Islands. For those who aren’t fully aware, this is the baton that’s going all around the Commonwealth. And, I think that the Falkland Islands are particularly honoured to have this baton here. It’s here for a week and it’s being run and carried from Mount Pleasant Complex next Friday by all sorts of individuals including school children, members of the public and I believe up to 100 people will be carrying that baton.
And I would just like to congratulate the organisers, the Falkland Islands Overseas Games Committee for pulling out the stops to get that baton here, in particular, Leisure Centre Manager, Steve Dent, who, I believe is the chairman of that group. And, I hope that when the baton does come into Stanley that anybody who is around at the time gives which ever runner it is a bit of a cheer.
Mr. Speaker, I support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mrs. Norma Edwards:
Mr. Speaker, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment, there is just one thing that has come to my notice lately, which is really nothing to do with the great workings of Government today that we have been talking about but it has to do with lice. A lousy subject, I know but it’s been brought to my attention recently that’s in England now. You are no longer allowed to tell a child or a child’s parent that they have lice because it is an infringement of the child’s rights. And, I think it’s a damned infringement to the other kids.
JB: Mr. Speaker!
TB: Order!
NE: Not yet. I thought, well, thank goodness we are not that daft in the Falklands, only to find I met a lady the other day who had her grandchildren for the school holidays and they had lice and she was busy getting rid of this. And, the same thing, I believe, applies here that you can write a parent and say there is lice in the school but you can’t actually take a parent aside and say that their child has lice. I think this is terribly wrong. It’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’ve got lice because lice like clean heads and we’ve had lice before and it’s a fact of life that lice now are a big problem in the South of England and we travel a great deal so we are, from time to time, going to have lice here. And, I think it’s only right and proper that we should take a more responsible attitude and not follow blindly in the footsteps of Britain on this front and make sure that those poor kids that have picked up some lice – their parents are told. And, it’s perfectly easy to get rid of it but if they are not aware of it then it’s going to be perpetuated throughout the school for a long, long time. And, I think that’s wrong. That’s got that off my chest.
TB: Can I ask the Honourable Lady whether it’s the lice she’s got off her chest or the comment?
NE: The comment because I think it is so silly – this attitude today of being so correct – so politically correct and so socially correct that we are not allowed to day anything. I think it’s the world gone crazy. I can only say that thank God we haven’t got Horse Chestnut Trees here or we would be providing our kids with goggles in case they play conkers as they were in England not long ago.
On that subject, Sir, I support the Motion for Adjournment. Thank you.
Cllr. The Hon. Mrs. Jan Cheek:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, I would first like to convey congratulations – and I am sure colleagues have already spoken and want to join me on those who have passed recently their GCSEs, their “A” Levels, obtained their degrees, obtained NVQs in certain subjects. It’s always good news to hear when people achieve what they have aimed to achieve what has been predicted for them. For those who haven’t quite made it this time, don’t give up. There is often an opportunity for re-take, to improve grades. And, I would encourage all to pursue all the opportunities that are offered to them at present.
I wanted to speak on another issue, which is featured in various for a lately. And, that is bullying. It’s very difficult to define and I am reminded of very early in my 20 years of teaching the day I was doing a little supply teaching at the Junior School, the door burst open and a very tiny, very indignant child stood there in the middle of the staff room at break time, addressing all the teachers and said that they were bullying him. We were alarmed and asked who and it turned out that a little girl, who shall be nameless, had said that she didn’t like him and this was, in his view, bullying.
So, we’ve got to be very careful when talking about bullying, that we ascertain whether the behaviour that’s being referred to as bullying really is bullying or whether, as the Chief Executive has been heard to say in the past whether it’s stern management. And, there’s a very narrow line between them. But I would like to assure people that whether it’s an issue in the schools or in Government, bullying, when it’s recognised as real bullying, is taken very seriously.
Finally, I just would like to say a word. I know this isn’t the last chance that we get to speak as Councillors because there is another EXCO – the scheduled one in September – but I would urge people to think very hard about standing in the forthcoming elections, so that there is a decent competition both in Stanley and in Camp. It’s no good sitting and saying that you don’t know who you are going to vote for and no one is standing. Well, think about standing yourself. Encourage people who you think would do well as Councillors to stand. It’s my wish – I am standing myself so perhaps I shouldn’t be saying this – but it’s my wish that we see some really good younger candidates coming up this time. And, if we are not elected as a result, with really good younger candidates coming in, so be it. But I would say, don’t sit moaning that you don’t have a say in things. Put your name in the hat. Stand for election if you have strong views or you feel you can represent people.
I support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. Ian Hansen:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment, I would like to begin by also adding my acknowledgement to the tremendous amount of work that went into the Fisheries Bill, in particular by the Attorney General but also the Director of Fisheries and Councillor Cockewll.
I think it was the last time in this House, Cllr. Luxton mentioned this would be a good place to stand and have a whine about things. And, we do complain about various things that we feel are not to our liking, like the high cost of fuel, the state of the MPA Road and many, many other issues that we think seriously affect our everyday lives. But since this House last met we must remember the horrific and cowardly bomb attacks in London’s Underground plus above ground on the same day. And, something like that then puts all our complaints very firmly in the “not that important after all” category. I do hope that we can sometime just take a bit of time to forget all these minor problems once in a while and take time to reflect on what it must still be like for those who lost family and friends on that day.
Really one other comment, I guess, I was asked the other day if I had the opportunity to read any of the official history of the Falklands War by Professor Freedman. I only touched on parts of it and I was asked how controversial was it. I believe that’s in the eye of the beholder. And, obviously Argentina will milk it to the extreme as they do with anything they see as a window of opportunity as far as the Falklands are concerned. I hope that most people accept it for what it is. It’s an official history based on fact. I guess even facts can be interpreted in different ways.
Incidentally, while reading a certain chapter of the book, I was reminded of a wonderful throw away line from Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22,” which was written in 1961. The line went ”Fortunately, just when things were at their darkest, war broke out.” Perhaps it will remind us of 1982.
Sir, I support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. Roger Edwards:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment, I would only like to say a few things. This will be my last Leg-co within this present Council because I am off next week for meetings within the European Commission and then will be attending the Labour Party and the Conservative Party Conferences. So I will not be here at the end of September for the final Leg-co. Unless something drastic happens, then that will be the last Leg-co of this particular Council.
I would like to speak about the election as well. I do hope that we have a good turn-out of candidates and electors. I, too, like my colleague across the floor, would like to see some young members standing – or young Islanders standing for Council and wish them the best of luck. I also hope that we have a good turn-out in those elections and I personally am a great believer that if you don’t vote then you shouldn’t whine. When I hear some of the whiners that we have around presently, I am actually quite comforted because if that’s all they’ve got to whine about, by golly, we live in a very lucky society, when you see what else is happening around the world.
Following on from something Norma was – my wife was saying about the lice and things, I remember nit inspections on a regular basis when I was at school. It didn’t only look for lice but it showed up all sorts of other scalp problems. And, I believe when nit inspections happen here in the Falklands it also showed up all sorts of problems. At an early stage they can be treated quickly and efficiently. So, lets hope that they - nit inspections - will come back.
I was going to say good-bye to the Chief of Staff but only in the last few days I learned that he’s actually been told to stay on. So, Gordon, I can’t say good-bye to you at this stage but I hope I am in a position to say farewell to you at a Leg-co in the future.
I Support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. Stephen Luxton:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, the main subject that I want to talk about today is that of conflicts of interest. I think it’s one that can be a bit sensitive and perhaps never more so than with the Bill that was before this House today. I normally don’t pay that much attention to anonymous letters and Cllr. Birmingham has mostly stolen my thunder, having read it out earlier on. But the one received at the Councillors’ Office a couple of weeks ago made me think that perhaps I should mention the issue. I think there’s probably a lot of misconception about them with the public. I quote the sentence from that letter, which said that most of us will benefit from this so we are giving the rights to ourselves. And, “The rest of you are either too thick to see what’s going on or don’t care.” I am not sure which of those three categories the writer thought I fell into. Because having thought about it in some detail I think there are, in fact, only two Councillors that can be said to have a close involvement in fishing and five of us declare an interest.
But in some cases, it’s a pretty distant interest and I would count myself amongst those, being a minority shareholder in a company, which is a minor shareholder in a fishing company. So I would personally strongly resent any suggestion that I supported the Bill because I am going to get a whole lot of money out of it. That just isn’t the case.
This brings up a wider question, though. In matters where some Councillors may stand to benefit, should a decision be made not to proceed with something purely for that reason. Or, should the wider national interest be considered. I would say the later because the important thing is what is necessary to secure the future of the Falkland Islands.
This was reinforced by the Standing Finance Committee earlier this morning, where we learned that rather than being in a deficit situation of some £3Million predicted at the end of June 2005, we are actually in a surplus position of about the same amount. I understand a fair chunk of that extra money – I think we are talking into 7 figures – was tax revenue from fishing companies – a source of income that we hope will increase as the industry gains the confidence and security to invest in its future and bring more money back into the Falkland Islands, instead of seeing it cruise off over the horizon.
It’s an issue I suppose is relevant in the forthcoming election. And, I can talk from a disinterested position because I think it’s fairly common knowledge now that I am not standing for re-election due to other commitments.
Sometimes it’s inevitable that somebody on Council is going to benefit, whether directly or indirectly from a Government decision. And, anything that’s intended to develop the economy of the Falkland Islands is likely to have that affect. The more important question to ask is whether it will be benefiting a whole lot of other people in the Falkland Islands as a whole. Personally, I don’t really believe that the Mexican Crab Syndrome should be the main guiding principle, either in making Government fiscal and policy decisions or in choosing the next Council.
I suppose one alterative would be to elect eight people who had no experience in business or management, didn’t own their own business, didn’t have any shares in anything and didn’t work for any company or organisation who might stand to benefit from a Government decision somewhere along the line. But I really don’t think that would help to enhance the future of the Falklands.
The Honourable Jan Cheek reminded me of something else I meant to mention in this House, which I nearly forgot about. In the run-up to the election, probably around the end of September, I intend to hold some kind of a session to try and give prospective candidates an idea of what may be involved in being a Councillor, right the way through the level of commitment, some of the subjects covered, and basically be available for any questions. Cllr. Birmingham did that prior to the last election. I went to it and personally found it was very useful and I shall ensure that it is suitably publicised in due course.
Mr. Speaker, I support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. Mike Summers:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, I have only one subject to mention today and that is the issue of the Constitution. I spoke about the Constitution earlier on and there remain a number of important issues that we have to deal with in respect of the Constitution. It, too, has taken an awfully long time and I am happy not to be able to blame – well, I might be happy not to blame the Foreign Office for it. It’s a process that we have been going through and then trying to sort out for ourselves.
It has taken a long time. This is the second Council now that has been considering potential amendments to the Constitution. But we have agreed that before the end of this Council, we will publish recommendations from this version of the Select Committee and have it available for people to discuss and debate over the election. I think that would be a useful thing. Certainly we were not able to do that at the last election.
I have started to draft the report of the Select Committee on the Constitution and mull through it. I hope to be able to have it to Members relatively shortly for comment and amendment. And, we may need another short session before we can issue it but barring unforeseen accidents, it really should be out well before the next election.
Sir, I support the Motion.
Cllr. The Hon. Mr. Richard Cockwell:
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, It seems I am coming last on the agenda again. However, it’s not by design or anything else. It just happens to be the case.
I have a feeling that people don’t really understand how successful the Falklands are and how well off we are. And, other Members have actually touched on this in their Motions for the Adjournment. It just brings to mind when Argentina the other day had a conference on the Falkland Islands and I think we were all very upset about it – and quite rightly so, too. However, I think they should have a Conference on the Falkland Islands to see how we actually make a success with the limited amount of natural resources we have and the limited amount of people and see if they can learn something because it (Argentina) is one of the most wealthy countries in the Southern Hemisphere in natural resources. And, if they just followed us – our suit – instead of being jealous of us and try to take us over, they may do themselves a lot of good.
I would like to actually, I know on occasion we do this but I would like to give some credit to some unsung, possibly vilified in some ways members of the Community. Lets see if people who look after the MPA Road – it must be so depressing for them to hear all of the ire and expertise, which is being thrown at them for the condition of the road. These guys work tirelessly and I think they have done a splendid job in very difficult circumstances. And, we really should recognise what they do rather than always saying what a dreadful job they are doing. I think they have done a very good and actually, except for when it’s wet, the road is not in bad condition.
The only other thing – and I hesitate to raise it but as the Hon. Norma Edwards did raise it, the issue of lice and people coming in from the South of England with head lice – is this a matter for the Bio-Security Officer?
Sir, I support the Motion.
Cllr Cockwell was the last to speak and the House was adjourned sine die.
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