Page 2847 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 15 August 1990
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Mr Duby: Piffle!
MR HUMPHRIES: What an extraordinary piece of piffle! To suggest that we, a subordinate body, can effectively amend the self-government Act passed by the superior legislature, the Federal Parliament, by changing our standing orders is nothing short of ludicrous. I am sure that Mr Connolly would not have dreamt of rolling into the Supreme Court, the Federal Court or the High Court and putting up an argument as weak and unsustainable as that.
I think it is quite obvious that restrictions have been placed on the ACT. I personally cannot say that I fully accept and appreciate that. I think we have demonstrated in the last 14 or 15 months of self-government that we are capable of handling ourselves in much the same way as other parliaments and that we ought to have the same environment generally as other parliaments. However, that is not the position that the Federal Parliament took, and it is not open to us to amend that position at this point. Mr Berry said that we would remove confusion concerning the operation of section 65 by passing these proposed amendments. But, on the contrary, we would increase that confusion. We would exacerbate the problem by putting standing orders directly in contradiction to section 65.
Mr Berry: You want to dodge crossing the floor by some of your members.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry interjects about dodging and about ratting on people. Ratting on people comes very easily to Mr Berry. He knows all about that from his dealings with the Right of the Labor Party.
Mrs Grassby: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I object to that.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mrs Grassby objects to being ratted upon.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Humphries! Please resume your chair.
Mrs Grassby: I object to that comment about my colleague Mr Berry. I object to it, and I ask that it be withdrawn.
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Grassby, I cannot talk over both of you. What is your point of order?
Mrs Grassby: I object to that comment that Mr Humphries made about my colleague, and I ask that it be withdrawn.
Mr Kaine: You can make a personal explanation later. It is not a point of order.
MR SPEAKER: Please raise that as an order.
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