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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 7 Hansard (17 October) . . Page.. 1757 ..

MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (4.59): Mr Speaker, I do not want to labour this issue unduly - and I can count - but a couple of comments that have been made deserve a response. The first of those is Mrs Carnell's comment about who preselects within the Labor Party and how the Labor Party preselection is, in her view, not a rank and file preselection. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, Mr Speaker. The Labor Party has a preselection system that permits full involvement of the rank and file. We have a collegiate system as well.

Debate interrupted.

MR SPEAKER: Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Humphries: I require that the question be put forthwith without debate.

Question resolved in the negative.

Debate resumed.

MS FOLLETT: I remind all members, including the Liberals, of what happened in the Liberal Party preselection for the seat of Canberra. You would have to have a very short memory indeed to have forgotten.

Mr De Domenico: What happened? Were you there?

MS FOLLETT: Mr Haslem was preselected by the rank and file.

Mr De Domenico: No, he was not. That is not true.

MS FOLLETT: I knew that that would upset them. The fact of the matter is that the party machine weighed in and put in Mr Smyth as the party's preselected candidate. Mr Speaker, it was a case of force majeure if there ever was one.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms Follett, you took a point of order against Mr Hird some little time ago on the ground of relevance. I would simply draw your attention to it. I am sure that you are working around to the point, though.

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