Page 408 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 February 1993
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Mr De Domenico: Standing order 192 reads:
... the question "That this bill be considered an urgent bill" shall be put forthwith and if the question is agreed to a Minister may forthwith move a motion specifying the time which shall be allotted to the various stages of the bill.
Ms Follett: That is what we just did.
Mr De Domenico: I am addressing my comments to the Speaker, not to you, Chief Minister. It continues:
Debate on the motion to declare a bill urgent or on the motion for the allotment of time shall in each case not exceed 15 minutes ...
As I read that, Madam Speaker, it seems to contradict the notion that the motion be put forthwith, because how can you have a 15-minute debate on something that has to be put forthwith? So I seek your clarification of that, please, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you for that, Mr De Domenico. We uphold your point of order. On a second reading of that, my advice is that the wording does lend itself to that interpretation. Is it the wish of the Assembly that we go back and debate the declaration of urgency? There being no objection, let us proceed in that way. Mr Berry, it was your motion. My advice is that we can put it to the Assembly to rescind that vote.
Mr Connolly: We would have to do that because there is a vote on the record. Although there was a point of order and, on a subsequent explanation, an incorrect ruling, we have the problem of a vote of the Assembly which we would have to get over.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Connolly, I will take advice on that. No, Mr Connolly; I was right. You can, by leave of the entire Assembly, go back, and that is what I sought. I sought leave of the Assembly to do that.
Mr Connolly: Which will rescind the vote?
MADAM SPEAKER: Yes, that was the meaning of that. So we are back to Mr Berry's declaration of urgency.
MR BERRY: There is a strong case for this Bill to be declared urgent. Last October there was a lengthy debate on this very subject. It was overwhelmingly carried that a Bill to amend the then Occupational Health and Safety Act should be supported by this Assembly. That came into law in October and it has full effect on 1 July. So only last October this Assembly made a judgment on this very matter. Subsequent to that, there was a long consultation process with business and with unions. Furthermore, there was commitment by this Government, in an election which was subjected to the scrutiny of all of the people of the ACT, and as a result of that election we have a Labor government. We therefore have a situation where this Assembly last October made a decision about what the law ought to be in relation to occupational health and safety in the ACT. The Liberals are being very churlish about this.
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