Page 4583 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
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QUESTION TIME
Discussion of Matter of Public Importance
Discussion resumed.
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I thought for a moment there that Mr Berry was going to use that procedure to avoid the issue again. I will read my foreshadowed motion. My foreshadowed motion, which can be debated concurrently with the discussion of the matter of public importance to save some of the Assembly's time, reads:
That the ACT Legislative Assembly censures the Minister for Health, Mr Berry, for his persistent behaviour in contempt of the Assembly and its committees, exemplified in his obstinate refusal to respond to legitimate questions, despite the claimed commitment by the Chief Minister to accountability and open government and despite the normal convention of Ministerial accountability.
I will move that motion at the end of the debate. I think the facts speak for themselves; the Hansard speaks for itself. The fact is that every non-government member in this Assembly is fed up with Ministers who refuse to answer legitimate questions in question time. It is all on the table. It is not a matter of conjecture; it is not a matter of emotion; it is a matter of fact. Mr Stevenson's matter of public importance is a legitimate one and I think that we should deal with the motion that I foreshadowed at the conclusion of the debate.
MRS GRASSBY (4.32): Question time is a long-established part of the Westminster system and questions without notice are very much part of the Australian system. I am sure that members of this Assembly who believe in the ACT's right to parliamentary representation and good government fully endorse this convention. This is why I find it extraordinary that our Abolish Self Government member, Mr Stevenson, has the audacity to criticise not only the Ministers but also you, the Speaker, and your ability to control this Assembly during the period of question time.
I firmly believe that Mr Stevenson, who seems to think that his constituents live in Hervey Bay in Queensland, is in no position to criticise an institution that he claims not to support. If we are to believe the hype under which he was elected, not only would he not be participating in the business of this Assembly - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Grassby! Relevance!
MRS GRASSBY: It is relevant. He is the one who is criticising Ministers, Mr Speaker. It is relevant.
Mr Jensen: You had better defend him, Ellnor. Don't you want to defend him?
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