Page 1516 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 April 1991
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Members interjected.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Connolly, I warn you.
Mr Kaine: Sit down, you mug. I think - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order, Chief Minister! Mr Connolly, I warn you that, if you participate in debate in that manner again, I will have you removed.
MR KAINE: I believe, Mr Speaker, that the Hansard will speak for itself.
Ms Follett: It will.
MR KAINE: It will, indeed. I think that there are a great many people out there in the community, returned service personnel, male and female, legatees, people who have borne the brunt of war, who will read with great interest Mr Berry's assertion that this is a trivial matter. His words were, "This is a trivial matter". I do not believe that it is trivial, and I believe that most of the population out there does not believe that it is trivial. You will live to regret those words, Mr Berry.
I was not going to get into this sort of heated debate and I was going to say very little. But what I was going to say was that, quite frankly, I would have put this in the category of heritage legislation, because it is preserving something. The game of two-up will forever be associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and Anzac Day is the celebration of the events of World War I when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps distinguished itself and represented Australia and New Zealand. To deal with that as a trivial matter is unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. The game of two-up is peculiarly Australian. It grew out of World War I.
Mr Berry: Liar.
Mr Jensen: I raise a point of order: The interjection.
MR SPEAKER: I did hear an interjection and I believe, Mr Berry, that I should ask you to withdraw that.
Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I will deal with the misrepresentation later. I withdraw the word "liar".
MR KAINE: The game grew out of World War I. It is one of those things that demonstrate the ingenuity of Australians in difficult times when they had to find something to amuse themselves. It is an Australian game. Those of us who have travelled extensively overseas know that there is nothing like two-up anywhere else in the world. It is truly an Australian game, invented by Australian soldiers on the field of battle. To trivialise that I find unbelievable.
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