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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 9 Hansard (23 November) . . Page.. 2484 ..

MS McRAE: You chose to peddle this line; but, when there are only six of us we cannot vote in a Chief Minister. That is what you are refusing to admit. There are only six of us - that is all - and there are 11 others in here. I just do not understand why, for three years, anything greater than the Follett Government held sway, and now, all of a sudden, we have a new rule - that 10 being more than seven does not matter anymore. Well, prove that 10 being more than seven does matter, Mr Moore, and put your vote where your words are.

MR MOORE (12.08 am): Mr Speaker, we have to work out whether we are going to vote for or against this line. In responding to Ms McRae, I could go back to what I said in question time. Ms McRae, you were talking about 10 being more than seven, and supposedly there was something different about when you were in government. Well, that is absolute nonsense. What was happening when you were in government was that, first of all, we moved a motion to force your Government to do something about education, and what did you do? You ignored it. So then we moved a motion of want of confidence in your Minister for Education, which in fact turned into a censure motion of your Treasurer and your Minister for Education. What did you do? You ignored it. Then what did we do? Then we got the numbers together and we moved an amendment to your budget. That is what you do not have the guts to do, and that is the trouble. If you really, genuinely believed in it, you would do it too, because, for all your pretence, all you want is a chance to get back into government.

Mr Connolly: This is the "Yap, yap, yap. I will bark, but I will not bite".

MR MOORE: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker. No, I cannot call for a point of order. Did you see that, Mr Speaker? These people, hypocritically, are now doing cat movements. Mr Connolly is holding his hand up and making a cat scratching noise. The only thing, Mr Speaker, is that at least he is doing it at a male this time, and not a female. That is what Mr Connolly is doing.

Mr Connolly: On the point of order: I was saying, "I will bark, but I will not bite. Yap, yap, yap". Cattiness is clearly gender-specific.

MR SPEAKER: I did not see it. I was ruminating on the profundities of this debate.

MR MOORE: I know there are times, Mr Speaker, when it is necessary to read what is written on the back of our eyelids, but in this case what was happening was that Mr Connolly was making cat comments and cat actions. He was making cat actions that he - - -

Mr Connolly: No, no. "I will bark" - that is, "Yap, yap, yap" - "but I will not bite".

MR SPEAKER: Order! You are elected representatives. Act like them.

MR MOORE: He was criticising the Government for doing cat actions earlier today. The hypocrisy fits in with what we have heard from the Labor Party for the rest of the day.

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