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DRAFT COPY
DRATT SPEECH DIXON ANDREW SO, OBE, JP
This draft is subject 10 ank2655LATIVES ACOUNCIL,
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must not beech-Me aanbladermere and Privileges) Bill 1985 without being checked against the speech
as delivered by the speaker.
heŝosa taking offles, Hembers of this Council must An oath is a sacred promise.
We
pledge an oath of allegiance. have to thoroughly understand our rights and obligations before
The aim of the Bill before we undertake to make the promise.
When the new us is to set out explicitly thesa basic rights. session begins, the Legislative Council will be very different from what it is now hoth in its composition and in the atmosphere of its meetings, though its role will remin unchanged. To give just one example, there will be a much greater number of select committees to be set up under the Council. At present, we only have the Finance Committee and the Public Accounts Committee, plus the recently-appointed
As the status of the Select Committee on commercial crimes. Legislative Council becomes increasingly important, the need to set up Select Committees to dispose of its duties will increase accordingly.
we
As all Unofficial Wenbers are hitherto appointed, have in the past, out of our own initiative, set up various
Members take part working groups to carry out different tasks,
in these working groups in accordance with their individual interests and specialties. In most cases, seniority and the alphabetic order of our Burnames will decide who will be the convener of a working group. Despite the success of such an alrangement, il has contributed to the fact that in the past seven years or so as a Legislative Councillor, I have never
One reason for this become a convener of any working group.
la, of course, that we have a galaxy of talents among the Wnofficial Members, but I suspect that it also has something to do with the fact that my surname comes way down the lisk
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