Page 2911 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 October 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mrs Carnell: That is why I gave you notice.
Mr Humphries: That is why she gave you notice.
MR BERRY: We will come to that in a minute. When she was asked to give notice, she would not give it.
Mr Humphries: It is questions without notice, you know.
MR BERRY: No, no.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MR BERRY: Action was taken to investigate that matter. While that action was under way, Mrs Carnell decided that she wanted to ask another question. It sounds as though Ms Austin might have stood on one of Mrs Carnell's bunions. Action was undertaken to examine the questions that she has raised. Yesterday she asked another question about Ms Austin and I said that I would ask my bureaucrats to look into the personnel details of Ms Austin and - - -
Mr De Domenico: So, by next year you might come up with an answer.
MR BERRY: Mr De Domenico interjects, "Then, by next year you might come up with an answer". Today Mrs Carnell or somebody from her office rang my office and said, "I am going to ask you a question about Annie Austin". So, I said to one of my staff members, "What will this question be about?". I said, "If it is about personnel matters, I am not going to answer them off the floor. I will answer them on the basis of proper inquiry, to ensure not only that the interests of the individual are preserved but that the whole question is fully answered".
We are in the process of examining the issues that were raised, I think it was yesterday, by Mrs Carnell about Ms Austin and now we have another question. The question that you ask is one that requires some examination and I would be quite happy to deal with it. Coming back to this other issue of giving notice, as I said, my office then called Mrs Carnell's office back and said, "Look, if you are going to ask questions about these personnel matters, put it to us in writing. We will get them examined and get you the answers". The response was, "Well, I am not going to tell you what I am going to ask you. I am just going to tell you that this will be the topic". I am telling you that I am not going to play games with you. If you want answers about - - -
Mr De Domenico: So, you want us to give you our tactics in advance?
MR BERRY: If you want details about people who work for the Government, as far as I am concerned, I am going to take a great - - -
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! The members of the Opposition will desist from interjecting, please.
MR BERRY: I am going to be very careful how I examine the matter. Will you tell me if you have any more questions, and we will get them all considered at once because - - -
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .