Page 2272 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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Government in other areas. With reference to the hospital situation - in the first place, we have a petition - - -
Mr Collaery: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker; I draw your attention to standing order 81 and section 19 of the self-government Act. In my respectful opinion, Mr Deputy Speaker, that standing order applies. It states:
A motion of no confidence in the Chief Minister, of which at least one week's notice has been given, shall, until it is disposed of, take precedence of all other business.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I submit that you cannot allow an amendment to this motion without, firstly, the original motion being dealt with. Secondly, there must be at least one week's notice of this motion. This is backed up by statute. I ask you, Mr Deputy Speaker, to rule that the amendment is out of order and to cease allowing Mr Moore to address the issues in his suggested amendments.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will take advice on that, especially as you refer to section 19 of the self-government Act.
In relation to the point of order raised by the Deputy Chief Minister, I have received advice from the Clerk. I have looked at section 19 of the ACT (Self-Government) Act and also standing order 81, and as a result I believe that Mr Moore can amend the original motion, as he has moved, because his motion, as amended, still expresses a lack of confidence in the Chief Minister. Mr Moore, you can continue speaking to your motion.
Mr Collaery: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker; you have not dealt with my second point: the need for seven days' notice to be given of a substantive motion, which this represents, to enable the Chief Minister preparation time to defend himself. I submit that this is the clear requirement of the legislation and the standing orders. I ask you to rule on my second point.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will briefly take advice on that second point, Mr Collaery. I do not know how much joy you will get.
I overrule you on that point of order, Mr Collaery, after seeking advice. It is still a lack of confidence motion, and it can be amended.
MR MOORE: You are unlucky, Mr Collaery, that you did not think of it yourself. That is why you have got the dirts. Just think what you could have done if you had thought of it. In fact, there is probably still time today.
If we are talking about a lack of credibility, we should take the situation where the Chief Minister gets a petition from over 40,000 people about the Royal Canberra Hospital and is totally dismissive about it. There were 40,000
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