Page 1679 - Week 06 - Thursday, 13 August 1992
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So riding horses is a rodeo. Let us have a look at what "rodeo" means in the Oxford Dictionary. It says:
1. A driving together of cattle in order to separate, count, inspect or mark them; a round-up. 2. A place or enclosure where cattle are brought together for any purpose. 3. An exhibition of skill in rounding up cattle, riding unbroken horses, etc ... an exhibition of 'stunting' in the riding of motor-cycles.
Well, there we go; so that is gone. I will check the date of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. I will not be long. I have to get the date. The last date on this one is 1987. Once again, who would have thought that we were banning an Evel Knievel and other people. Once again, there is no more relevant dictionary than the Oxford Dictionary.
Mr Moore: Yes, there is. It is an English dictionary. The Macquarie Dictionary is fine. It is Australian usage. We do not use the language that way. Who has ever heard of a motorbike rodeo?
MR STEVENSON: The day we give up the Oxford Dictionary for the Macquarie Dictionary will be a sad old day for the Canberra Times, this Assembly and anybody else who knows the slightest thing about - - -
Mrs Grassby: Is there something wrong with it, Dennis? Are you not proud of being Australian? Obviously you are not proud of being Australian, Dennis.
MR STEVENSON: I am proud of being Australian. I have the Australian flag on my table, like many other good Australians in this Assembly. I am proud of it, make no mistake, and I am proud of our heritage. I do not wish to deny our heritage, any more than I wish to change my parents' name.
I acknowledge that this is one point I did not spot. I assumed that a rodeo was where you have someone roping and throwing cattle, bucking horses and so on. The trouble with assuming something is that it makes an "ass of u and me" if you break up the word. That was my assumption. I think it is fair to say that most of us in this Assembly could not fairly give the definitions of rodeo before they were read out of the dictionary. I do not know whether that will be fairly said by some members of this Assembly. That was the reason why I introduced the censure motion. There is not fairness here; there is not justice here; there is not a fair representation of principles. What on earth is debate for if it is not to be able to bring up these points? Why is it that I cannot read out of a dictionary without some members opposite saying that it is all nonsense? That is what it says in the dictionary and there is no definition in the legislation.
What has been absolutely ascertained by me during the last half-hour is that we should make an amendment. While I am on my feet someone might want to start drafting one. We should make an amendment to this clause, saying exactly what a rodeo is, or what parts of the definition of a rodeo we mean it to exclude. Once again, I ask the Minister, I ask members opposite, to please explain what they mean by "rodeo".
Mr De Domenico: Or it does not mean.
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