Page 4951 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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on with the business of this house and not spend so much time on what are frivolous points of order, with people trying to make rather ridiculous and petty points which I do not think help the dignity of this chamber one iota.
Mr Speaker, the Opposition has tried to suggest to you that the Government and, indeed, you, yourself, have failed badly in maintaining the dignity of the Assembly. I would remind Opposition members that they have spent a hell of a lot of time this year playing time-wasting games. On occasions they have accused the Government of not having enough business, yet quite amazingly when they have done that - and in some weeks I have actually counted it up - 40 or even up to 50 per cent of the time has been spent by the Opposition taking amazing points of order and on putting on rather spurious motions. Perhaps if they had shut up when they thought the Government did not have enough business, they might have been a lot more successful. However, here we are at the end of the year; we have a large number of Bills which we have to get through, some, of course, which will go over into the new year. We are 19 months or so into the term of this first Assembly and the work is banking up.
Mr Speaker, I think it is very important that we get on with the work. That way we, both the Government and the Opposition, will maintain the dignity of the Assembly and will look a lot better in the community's eyes than if we just waste time with such frivolous motions as this.
MR STEVENSON (4.38): This matter of public importance would lay the responsibility for the dignity of the Assembly at the feet of the Speaker and the Government. I believe that it can only be all the members of this Assembly who can ensure that this is a place that is fit to be called a parliament. Members in this place who involve themselves in personal name calling, who use offensive language and do various other things in the Assembly to denigrate other people instead of debating the issues that are before the parliament, will do nothing to solve the problem and nothing to build the dignity of the Assembly.
I think it could well be said that the party leaders have a particular role in this matter. After all, it is they who should take responsibility if there are members within their party who are not upholding the dignity of the Assembly. In the Speaker's case, indeed he has senior responsibility; but neither our current Speaker nor any other Speaker that sits in an assembly or a parliament anywhere can uphold dignity unless all members accept the responsibility. It does not happen in the bunker and it will not happen here unless individuals get together and decide to create a different environment. Personal name calling is offensive language in House of Representatives Practice. It talks about "offensive" and says that it means offensive in some personal way. That happens often in this Assembly.
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