Page 4585 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Grassby, I draw your attention to earlier comments - - -
MRS GRASSBY: Why? He is criticising Ministers.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Grassby! I draw your attention to earlier comments on the relevance of the MPI with respect to my control of the house. That is being debated, but I think that should have been put to rest. Apparently you were not here. I would ask you now to address the matter of public importance before the house.
MRS GRASSBY: I was here, Mr Speaker, but I saw it as a criticism of you. That is the way I see this - and as a criticism of the Ministers. On many occasions during question time I have cast my eye around the chamber and noted that Mr Stevenson has not even bothered to attend. I find it incredible that he can criticise the Ministers.
Mr Stevenson: Mr Speaker, is it allowable for the Minister to make false statements in this particular - - -
MR SPEAKER: There is no Minister addressing the house, Mr Stevenson. That is not a valid point of order. Please proceed, Mrs Grassby.
MRS GRASSBY: One may ask whether this is the manner in which he shows his contempt for his constituents. Mr Speaker, I note with interest that Mr Stevenson has not one question on the notice paper; yet he is criticising Ministers on the way they answer questions. When we were in opposition nearly every question was a dorothy dixer. I think I have asked three since we have been in government. Members get many questions in. Mr Stevenson gets all his questions in, whenever he asks them, and he gets answers to them. So, how he can criticise the Ministers - and you yourself - in this house, I do not know. As I say, he is hardly ever here. How would he know?
If I had pressing constituents' questions and I did not want to wait for the answer, I would put them on the notice paper. But we do not see any of that from Mr Stevenson. I suggest to Mr Stevenson that there are also many other avenues, apart from question time, for the few constituents that he has in Canberra to get answers. If he cannot get an answer that he wants in the house, he can see the Ministers afterwards. As for his criticisms of the Ministers of this house, I find them absolutely ridiculous. As I still say, Mr Speaker, he criticises you and the Ministers. As for Mr Kaine's criticising the Minister for Health, Mr Berry, on many occasions we got gobbledegook answers from the former Minister for Health on the other side of the house. We could never get straight answers.
Mr Kaine: Maybe it is a virus that afflicts Ministers for Health.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .