Page 587 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 1990
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standing order 155. At the vote on Mr Berry's motion to suspend standing orders earlier this afternoon, you, having called for the vote, left the chamber and therefore breached standing order 155. In fact, you did not return to participate in the vote. I regard such action as being highly disorderly and I therefore call on you to apologise unequivocally to the Assembly for your conduct on this occasion.
MR WHALAN: Mr Speaker, can I draw your attention to the fact that earlier today, after a vote had been called for a division within this chamber, that you yourself left this chamber. On behalf of yourself and myself, I apologise to the chamber.
MR SPEAKER: I will take that as an offence again, Mr Whalan. You are stepping over the line totally. If you would read your standing orders, as you claim to do regularly, you would see that under standing order 161, I was entitled to leave and remain out of the chamber. Read 161, I advise you.
MR WHALAN: Can you just give me a moment to read it?
MR SPEAKER: Well, do so. You are out of order once again.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (5.29): This has turned into a very interesting adjournment debate, and I think that the heat of the argument that is coming from the other side is indicative of the fact that, once again, Opposition members have been sprung. It appears that nobody was around these lovely precincts of the Assembly, which they love to define, on Thursday and Friday of last week - nobody, of course, except the hardworking member, Mr Berry. It has been stated on a number of occasions, and no-one has denied it, that people attempted to consult with members of the Opposition on Thursday and again on Friday.
We now find that, in their pathetic attempts to make out that no consultation has occurred, members of this Opposition have been out campaigning in the Federal election in areas that do not even come within the borders of the ACT. They were in Eden-Monaro, down the coast; everyone went surfing. I think that it is an outrageous admission on the part of members on the other side of the house that they are out campaigning on matters which frankly do not concern them. They are paid to represent the interests of the people of the ACT, not to be fiddling around down in Eden-Monaro, not to be trying to help out various candidates. I noticed with some pleasure, Mr Kaine, that it came from the lips of the great deceiver himself that he had asked where Trevor was and the answer was, "We haven't seen Trevor". The reason is, of course, that Mr Kaine - - -
Mr Whalan: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I find that quite offensive. I thought that Mr Duby was referring
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