Page 1404 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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As practitioners -
he was referring to newly admitted senior partners largely -
of the Supreme Court ... you will all know something of the impact of self-government on the legal system.
He went on to say:
In this current interim period - the twilight or the dawn depending upon your point of view ...
For the record, Mr Speaker, I see self-government neither as a twilight nor as a dawn.
Mr Moore: On a point of order, Mr Speaker; my point of order refers to standing order 62, and that is the point I was trying to make, that this is irrelevant. Mr Collaery was given leave of the Assembly to make a statement about misrepresentation. What he is presenting is irrelevant.
MR SPEAKER: My interpretation of the question posed is that it is of a legal matter, and I believe Mr Collaery is addressing that question. Please proceed, but be brief, Mr Collaery.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Speaker, I will be brief. Mr Connolly imputed that there is a dispute between the Chief Justice and me. I merely observed that the Chief Justice has commented upon the advent of self-government. It is not a criticism of the Alliance Government. The Chief Justice chose, in his wisdom, to comment on whether the advent of self-government was, in the area in which he was speaking, a twilight or a dawn. That is a matter for him to choose to comment upon. I make no comment upon the propriety or otherwise of that, but he was not commenting upon this Alliance Government. Certainly I draw the attention of all members to the Chief Justice's comments so that we do not enter into a fractious debate which will demean the status of either that court or this Assembly.
MR CONNOLLY: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a statement. I claim to have been misrepresented.
MR SPEAKER: Please proceed.
MR CONNOLLY: Mr Collaery says that I wilfully misrepresented the views of the Chief Justice. My point was that all residents of this community were aware of the comments of the Chief Justice which were published on the front page of the Canberra Times on the weekend and would be concerned at the - and I said "apparent" - dispute between the Chief Justice and the Attorney.
Mr Collaery now announces that wide community consultation will take place before a court restructuring is completed.
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