Page 4838 - Week 16 - Thursday, 29 November 1990
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Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I have to take the point of order and I ask Mr Berry to resume his seat while I do so. Mr Speaker, there is no suggestion that anything of this kind is covered by the Bill that Mr Collaery has put forward, nor for that matter by the Bill that Ms Follett put forward. There simply cannot be any argument that discrimination is of any relevance at all to what Mr Berry is saying.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, would you like to comment on the point of order?
MR BERRY: No, it is up to you.
MR SPEAKER: You have had your turn. Okay. Normally you stand and get the floor when you do that. The point is that I have not had a chance to read any of the ACT discrimination paper, so I cannot take a decision on whether it has been covered or not; but it certainly sounds to me as though what you are embarking upon is an argument that is not covered by this paper. Please make it obvious to us all if that is what you intend to do.
MR BERRY: I will certainly make it obvious to you; but I do not think I will have Mr Humphries' agreement in the end run, Mr Speaker, and we will probably have to live with a bit of brittleness over there on the issue.
Mr Kaine: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: if Mr Berry is going to continue this line, I would like him to point out, in the paper, where there is any reference to discrimination against nurses. Otherwise, it is totally irrelevant.
MR SPEAKER: I am asking the same question, Mr Berry. Please proceed.
MR BERRY: We are getting a little touchy. The fact of the matter is that the line that I took was that any legislation which purportedly set out to prevent discrimination against Territorians, if it was worth anything, would prevent the sort of discrimination which has been reported, or the threatened discrimination which has been reported, in relation to nurses within our public hospital system.
Mr Kaine: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: there is no reported discrimination of the kind and I suggest that Mr Berry confine himself to the paper in front of him. I suppose that next he will be saying that there is something in there about discrimination against people of Icelandic birth living in the ACT. That is just as remote as the kind of thing that he is talking about.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you for your observations, Chief Minister. Mr Berry, I think you are really scooting around the point.
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