Page 2429 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 1993
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I believe, confusion in the operation of those committees, in particular with respect to the title of the committee chair. Some reports have been handed down in this Assembly - I think, for example, of a report of the Tourism and ACT Promotion Committee last year, and there are certainly others - in which the chair of the committee has been styled as "chairman". I can recall other occasions when the chair has been styled as "chairperson" and others again when the chair has been styled as "presiding member". That confusion is not particularly helpful.
The self-government Act provides that this Assembly is capable of determining the appropriate designation or title for the presiding member of the Assembly, and that title we have of course chosen to be "Speaker". Madam Speaker, it would be similarly appropriate for the bodies concerned, the committees of the Assembly which are conducting business on a day-to-day basis, to determine the title appropriate to their own chair. I have noticed in particular that as members have moved to other places in Australia, moved around the country, they have encountered some difficulty in that, to my knowledge, there is no other parliament in this country in which the term "presiding member" or "deputy presiding member" operates. It is occasionally confusing to go to a place and to ask to be titled "presiding member" in formal proceedings - for example, at a conference or in meetings with other committees or something of that kind - when the term is not a familiar one to members of committees of other parliaments in this country.
Obviously, under this proposed new standing order it will be up to each committee to determine how it styles its chair, whether it is "chairperson" or - - -
Mr Berry: "God".
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry suggests "God". Regrettably, Mr Berry cannot sit on any committees, so he cannot enjoy that title. Perhaps one day, Mr Berry, you will be in opposition and you can do so; but for the time being we on the back bench, so to speak, will have to enjoy the pleasure of naming ourselves with different titles. I suspect that the Assembly will restrict itself to such titles as "chair", "chairman", "chairperson" - - -
Mrs Carnell: "Chairwoman".
MR HUMPHRIES: "Chairwoman", "lady chair", whatever. I will leave it to the imagination of members of the committees. It seems to me that this is sensible, Madam Speaker, and I ask the Assembly for support in giving us the flexibility to make those committees operate on a slightly more functional and reasonable basis.
MR LAMONT (10.57): Madam Speaker, government members will be supporting this proposition. There has been some angst in ensuring consistency of form when publications of committees are forwarded to the community. Particular community groups have raised a number of issues about who chairs, what a chair is, who the presiding member is. A number of people are saying that because the Speaker is the presiding member of the Assembly the term "presiding member" is regarded as being the Speaker. There is a range of forms.
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