Page 3012 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 5 December 1989
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duty to call to the attention of the Assembly. It is a matter which, if not addressed, I believe could be an encroachment on the future independence of this Assembly and the resources available to it and its committees.
Prior to the debate and the vote on the Business Franchise ("X" Videos) Bill 1989, certain approaches were made to me regarding how I should vote on the Bill. This is not unusual. In this Assembly the Speaker has a deliberative vote only and must exercise that vote if he is present in the chamber when the vote is taken.
I have often been lobbied regarding my voting intentions, and no doubt will continue to be lobbied. However, let me warn members that on these occasions the responsibility is theirs - I repeat, on these occasions the responsibility is theirs - to ensure that no doubt is possible as to who is being lobbied: the Speaker or the MLA. On such occasions it must be made clear when approaching the Chair that members are lobbying me as the MLA and not as the Speaker.
There is one aspect of the lobbying that occurred on this occasion which I viewed with grave concern. Prior to the debate on the X-rated videos Bill, I was clearly told by several Ministers that, should the Bill fail to pass the Assembly, certain additional funding being sought by me as Speaker would be jeopardised. That funding is being sought for the recently approved Bills review committee staffing and equipment for members, which has recently arisen and which could not be covered by my budget submission. My interpretation of these discussions was threat by inference. I regard this with the gravest concern. I want to make it perfectly clear that the allocation of resources to the Assembly and its committees is not a matter to be used or intruded upon in this way.
While acknowledging that the Executive has the ultimate responsibility to the electorate for the expenditure of public moneys and reminding members that the budget process allows for a full input by the Speaker and the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedures, I must stress that it is not acceptable that funding for the Assembly be used to influence the vote of the occupant of the chair in this manner.
Mr Wood spoke of the independence and integrity of the Assembly, and he is correct. The independence and the integrity of the Speaker must be protected and upheld at all times. It is the very foundation upon which our Westminster parliamentary system is built. I therefore place on notice all Assembly members and the community at large that I, as Speaker of this Assembly, will never countenance any threat, veiled or otherwise, to the independence of the Assembly as has occurred on this occasion. I therefore support the motion of want of confidence.
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