Page 3815 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 October 1991
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MR SPEAKER: It has just expired. Mr Connolly, do you hear me?
MR CONNOLLY: Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero. Now I will sit down.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Jensen: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. That member continually disobeyed your instructions. I think you should take action against him.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, I think he was sailing a bit close to the wind there; but we will proceed.
MR HUMPHRIES (12.45): There are only a couple of minutes, I suspect, left in this debate. It is a bit ironic that the three members who have taken up the time are all against this motion. But I will make something quite clear: The stunt that is going on this afternoon - let us be clear about this - is coming from those opposite. They do not want this motion to be debated; they do not want this motion to be voted on today.
They are desperate that this committee not be set up. They are desperate that we do not have this select committee looking into Wayne Berry's handling of his health budget. That is why an amendment came forward five minutes before the normal adjournment at 12.30 pm, when they knew that it was too late to debate it. They knew that it would throw a spanner in the works. They were hopeful that it would fall after 12.30 pm and they would have the thing adjourned until next week.
Mr Moore, who has left the chamber, said that he was concerned about not having full debate on this matter. Mr Moore is coming back. I will offer him an invitation. I am very happy to have this matter adjourned until this afternoon, if the Government is fair dinkum and gives an undertaking that it will give us leave this afternoon to deal with it this afternoon during government business or after government business. If the Government is sincere about wanting to debate this, we will have to debate it this afternoon. This is private members' business; but this matter cannot be left until next week; it is too time critical. If Government members are sincere about having a debate on this, they will agree to adjourn it till this afternoon.
Mr Berry: How are you going to accommodate this? How do you do this? You tell me about the mechanics.
MR HUMPHRIES: You undertake not to deny us leave this afternoon to finish the debate this afternoon. Can you give us that undertaking?
Mr Berry: I can speak only for myself.
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