Page 1691 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 May 1990
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Often it is the practice of the Government to have the guts to accept suspension of standing orders, to move suspension of standing orders themselves, to allow the Opposition to move a motion of censure.
That is the practice that I was referring to. Mr Jensen in his amusing little interjections about learner plates and reading 346 failed, unfortunately, to read beyond that. He saw that it was not in the standing orders. He did not see the practice, and it is the practice that is important because this debate, if we ever get to it, on censure is all about standards, propriety, and practice. For two hours this afternoon, members opposite have evaded the standard parliamentary practice in every parliament and forum in Australia. It is appalling.
MR MOORE (5.00): The issue here and the issue about the suspension, I think, have to do with the credibility of the Government. The Government has brought down a series of economic statements and it has done so at a time when its credibility is at its very, very lowest. It has absolutely no credibility amongst the people - - -
Mr Collaery: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker, on relevance.
MR SPEAKER: Overruled, Mr Collaery. Please proceed, Mr Moore.
MR MOORE: It has absolutely no credibility amongst the people of Canberra, and part of that also has an overriding effect on the Assembly as a whole. The Assembly as a whole is also losing its credibility along with the Government. But first and foremost is the credibility that is lost with Mr Duby himself, and that follows through to the Liberal Party. The Residents Rally has never had any, anyway, for the last six months.
This matter ought to have been brought on as soon as possible so that the credibility could have been established and Mr Duby could have been suspended from the ministry following a vote by the Assembly. Then the economic statement could have been brought down in an atmosphere where we could see that the Government actually deserved to be given credit for having some sense of propriety instead of the farce that it is producing under these sorts of circumstances.
I think it is quite appropriate that we do suspend standing orders under these circumstances, that we follow what Mr Connolly has just drawn out as normal parliamentary practice and that we continue with this suspension, because normal parliamentary practice is what we are on about. One wonders how this parliament is to get any credibility at all. It is going from low to lower to lowest - at this stage that is about what it is - and perhaps this was Mr Duby's intention.
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