Page 719 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 1990
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MR SPEAKER: Order. Mr Berry, please address the question before the house.
MR BERRY: With respect, Mr Speaker, I am trying to.
MR SPEAKER: Please get on with it.
MR BERRY: It was the Australian Labor Party which was in office federally when this asbestos issue first came to the forefront and had to be dealt with, in the absence of self-government in the ACT. And, of course, they got on with the job of dealing with it.
Mr Duby: The issue was raised 10 years ago.
MR BERRY: In fact, it was raised a lot longer ago than that. It was back in the early part of the century that it was discovered that asbestos could cause damage. But you newcomers to the political scene have probably got a bit of selective amnesia about who at least began to deal with the asbestos problem in the ACT. That is the reason I got to my feet, just to demonstrate that there are matters of interest in the Valley View which concern this house and which are of interest in terms of doing research about the debates that are going on in this house. I think, Mr Speaker, that your ruling on the issue of studying newspapers is a very unreasonable one in that context, and I think perhaps it might be reviewed at some time in the future.
MR SPEAKER: Before you rise, Mr Kaine, I would just make a comment that, yes, it is accepted in parliamentary practice, for members to refer to newspapers as part of the debate at hand. However, one normally does not conduct one's research in the chamber - call it looking through newspapers - and that is the impression you gave.
MR BERRY: Well, I am sorry if I gave that impression, Mr Speaker.
MR KAINE (Chief Minister) (11.59): Mr Speaker, since Mr Berry has chosen to get to his feet and make some remarks about nothing whatsoever to do with the question of asbestos, I presume that I am entitled - - -
Mr Berry: On a point of order, Mr Speaker; it has just been brought to my attention that Dr Kinloch has got press cuttings, so parts of a newspaper are okay.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you for that observation, Mr Berry. Yes, they are. Please proceed, Mr Kaine.
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, it was quite obvious that Mr Berry's getting to his feet had nothing to do with the asbestos argument whatsoever. It was merely a ploy to make some reference to a couple of Federal members of the Labor Party, and an opportunity to pat them on the back on the eve of an election. Since he has chosen to do that, of
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