Page 1049 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 3 May 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the federal election campaign and introduce them to my constituents. And I will be prouder still if they are elected to serve the same constitutency as I in the other place.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (10.21): Labor will not be supporting this referral today. Ms Lawder could have already made this referral to the Commissioner for Standards if she had thought there was a case that needed to be answered, and we would encourage her to do that in the future. But noting that Mr Davis is going to self-refer anyway, we just think this is a bit superfluous.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (10.21): Madam Speaker, I seek your advice regarding the standing orders in light of the comments that Ms Orr has just made. The standing orders indicate that anyone may make a complaint to the commissioner, via the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, about a member’s compliance with the members’ Code of Conduct or the rules relating to registration and declaration of interests and various other matters.
I am interested to get your advice on what the mechanism is. Ms Lawder has put a motion that calls on the Assembly to refer Mr Davis to the Commissioner for Standards. That is not a mechanism that sits in the standing orders. Here we can see the political reality of what has been done here, because, as Ms Orr has just pointed out, Ms Lawder could easily have written a letter to the Commissioner for Standards saying, “I am concerned about this. Can you have a look at it and see if Mr Davis has done the right thing?” That is how every other referral to the standards commissioners about this sort of matter has been done. That is how I recall it.
Mr Hanson interjecting—
Now Mr Hanson is sitting here making smart comments across the chamber. He may have an example that I cannot recall, and I look forward to him sharing that. But this is a political smear by Ms Lawder in the context of an election campaign. That is what this is about. She could easily have written to the standards commissioner and had this investigated, but, no, she wants to bring it to this chamber.
Madam Speaker, I conclude my remarks by seeking your advice on the validity of this motion and whether the Assembly has the power to refer to the Commissioner of Standard. The standing order does say that anyone may make a complaint, but I am interested in your advice on whether the Assembly can actually make that referral. If the Assembly is going to do it, who writes the letter and who characterises the nature of the complaint? Presumably, Madam Speaker, that would be you on behalf of the Assembly. I am not sure that you have the details of Ms Lawders allegations. Aside from making clear the nature of this political attack—that is not your job, that is my job—I would welcome your advice on the procedural soundness of this motion.
MADAM SPEAKER: I will come back with the advice, Mr Rattenbury, if I may.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (10.23): The reality is that this is an issue that does need to be referred to the standards commissioner. In response to Mr Rattenbury: it is pretty evident that if the Assembly decides something, that referral is always put through Madam Speaker. She would be the one that does it. It has a perfectly
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video