Page 3704 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 9 December 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Berry: How can they attempt to misuse it? They have no control over it.
MR DE DOMENICO: Madam Speaker, am I going to follow your ruling or Mr Berry's ruling?
MADAM SPEAKER: I would caution you to proceed with great care and to look at the standing order on MPIs, Mr De Domenico. I caution you to temper your remarks around the particular standing order.
MR DE DOMENICO: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I take your ruling, as I always do. I suggest that from time to time the spirit of the way in which MPIs are presented has been misused, first of all, by members opposite. Perhaps that, Mr Berry, and you, Madam Speaker, might - - -
Mr Berry: No, it does not make me happy at all.
MR DE DOMENICO: Then I am sorry. If Madam Speaker is happy, with respect to you, Mr Minister, I do not care how you feel.
Mr Berry: I can tell that, and I am very pleased. You are not meant to smile when I am about.
MR DE DOMENICO: Good. It is up to this Assembly, therefore, to try to remedy the situation as it now stands. Ideally, this matter could have been resolved in a spirit of consultation and commonsense. The Liberal Party and the Independents are still of this view. However, I believe that the amendment to standing order 79 encapsulates the intention to revert to MPI entitlements in a fair way, which reflects the make-up in terms of representation in this Assembly. I commend the amendment to the house.
MR LAMONT (12.14): Madam Speaker, the way in which this Assembly has operated is in marked contrast to what I would suggest was three years of near anarchy in terms of cooperation in the mechanisms that make this chamber work.
Mr Cornwell: Are you talking about the previous Assembly, the TWU, or what?
MR LAMONT: The previous Assembly, Mr Cornwell.
Mr Cornwell: I am sorry; you did not make it clear.
MR LAMONT: Your own ignorance would not allow you to comment on the former TWU years.
Mr Humphries: We could see what happens pretty well. We could see the blood seeping under the door.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR LAMONT: The real issue here is one where we can demonstrate by example - in the committee structure, in the way the Administration and Procedures Committee has operated, in the way debate has generally ensued in this chamber - that cooperation to assist in the efficient operation of the Assembly is one of the hallmarks of this Assembly.
Mr Kaine: Until you pulled a fast one. You were one of the three culprits.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .