Page 2430 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 1993
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Mr Berry: "The Don".
MR LAMONT: Mr Berry refers to "the Don". My cricketing prowess never let me aspire to lofty heights, but if the Opposition would like to take the Government on in a game of cricket I am prepared to demonstrate that prowess at any stage in the future.
Mr Humphries: A sucker for punishment.
MR LAMONT: It is obvious that you would lose, as you do most things. But the real point is that this is not a matter for jocularity at all; it is a quite serious matter. We are trying to get the performance of this Assembly into a more readily accepted and understood form. The confusion caused by the variation of titles at the moment, I believe, is addressed by this quite sensible proposition that we have suggested that Mr Humphries bring forward.
MS SZUTY (10.58): Madam Speaker, I support Mr Humphries's motion on this issue and - - -
Mr De Domenico: It is Mr Humphries's motion, is it?
MS SZUTY: I believe so, Mr De Domenico. I would also like to follow on from the comments that both Mr Humphries and Mr Lamont have made on this topic. I believe that the major reason for bringing this issue forward is that the term "presiding member" is a term generally not understood by members of the community, as Mr Lamont has pointed out. It is my belief that the terms "chairperson", "deputy chairperson" and "chairman", where preferred by particular members of this Assembly, are more familiar to people outside this Assembly and are probably therefore more appropriate for us to use. It may well be that the presiding members of Assembly committees select different terms to reflect the titles of their positions.
It seems to me, Madam Speaker, that should we pass this motion today all Assembly committees should include discussion of this subject at their next meeting to resolve the issue for those particular committees. It may well be that some considerable discussion will occur. I myself would prefer to be referred to as the chairperson of the Estimates Committee and the deputy chairperson of the Select Committee on the Establishment of an ACT Public Service. The reason for this is that these are more gender neutral terms than the terms "chairman" and "deputy chairman", which may be preferred terms for other members of this Assembly.
It would probably be more consistent for us to adopt like terminology; otherwise we may end up with a situation where the presiding member of a committee is referred to as the chairperson and the deputy presiding member is referred to as the deputy chairman. However, as Mr Humphries's motion has suggested, it is open to each committee to arrive at its own determination on the matter. This is appropriate and will resolve existing difficulties with terminology, as both Mr Humphries and Mr Lamont have outlined.
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