Page 2436 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 7 August 1990
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grant it, and if its members do not intend to do so they should put forward their reason for not doing so. What is their justification for refusing a request for leave of absence of this member of this Assembly? If they cannot put their case forward for refusing leave I submit that the debate ought to be over.
MR CONNOLLY (4.27): Mr Acting Speaker, the Chief Minister asks what are the Opposition's reasons for opposing this motion? That question is best answered in the Chief Minister's own remarks when he expressed his lack of awareness as to where Mr Speaker is and as to what Mr Speaker is doing wherever he happens to be. I could also ask how he is attired wherever he happens to be. We are led to believe that he may be attending a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Rarotonga. That may or may not be the case. It leads to the question, if he is attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting, on what authority is he doing so? The Chief Minister indicated that if the Speaker is travelling and is at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association function, it may follow that leave of absence is not needed from the Assembly because the Speaker is conducting Assembly business. This is the same as if, while the Assembly was sitting, the Chief Minister was called away to Executive Government business. He would not be said to need leave of absence from the Assembly, just as when our Leader, Ms Follett, is absent from this chamber attending to Opposition business, it would not be said that leave of absence was necessary.
Mr Kaine: That sounds reasonable to me, very reasonable.
MR CONNOLLY: The Chief Minister says that is reasonable. When Mr Speaker is absent from the chamber on official duty, leave of absence may not be required, says the Chief Minister. Without necessarily agreeing with that, I think that that may well be the case. The question is, is Mr Speaker absent from this chamber on official business? He is attending a Commonwealth - - -
Mr Humphries: You were told he was.
Ms Follett: On what authority?
MR CONNOLLY: Well, whatever Mr Speaker may happen to say, if Mr Speaker decides to attend any conference anywhere in whatever form of robes he might be wearing at the time, does that mean it is official business? If he is attending a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association function, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has met on this matter. Our understanding is that there is no resolution of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association ACT Legislative Assembly branch authorising Mr Speaker to attend that function on its behalf. It is for this reason that the Leader of the Opposition asked the legitimate question at the opening of question time this morning: on what authority is the Speaker absent and what do the
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