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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1380 ..

Mrs Carnell: It is not the premise that is the issue here; it is the actual words that she used. That is what the personal explanation is about. You may not stray into debate. That is simply outside standing orders.

MR SPEAKER: That is true.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I add to that that standing order 46 is very clear. It states that, having obtained leave from the Chair - that has been given - a member may explain matters of a personal nature, obviously matters regarding the person.

Mrs Carnell: Only when they are of a personal nature. A member may not debate the issue.

MR SPEAKER: A member may not debate the issue.

MS McRAE: Mr Speaker, there were two points of order in which I sought to make a personal explanation, if I may remind you. When I stood up during question time before my supplementary question, I wanted to make a clarification at that point. Let me make it absolutely clear. I sought your leave under standing order 46 to clarify two things. The first thing I have clarified, and I am going back to the uncorrected proof Hansard to follow through. It was a day of great frustration, as I remember. I repeated my question about five times and, may I say, to date still have no answer.

The second point of clarification I wish to make is in relation to the way Mrs Carnell was quoting what I said about what she had and had not said about the land swap and the decontamination. I want to repeat that statement, if I may. It reads:

... it has been clear from the start that any cleanup would be a matter for further negotiation with the Commonwealth.

What I have been trying to clarify all these days revolves purely around that statement and that statement only. To whom? What has been clear? When? That statement gave the impression of a great deal more happening than has happened. That is the statement that I wanted to clarify under my point of order before, when I said that I would make a personal explanation at the end of question time and sat down. I know very well that Mrs Carnell was not in front of those committees. I think that is irrelevant to what I was talking about. I did make an error if I quoted the words as hers.

Mrs Carnell: Twice.

MS McRAE: I accept your interjection, Mrs Carnell. You do not have to tell me. That makes no difference to what I have been talking about. There was never an intent to impugn Mrs Carnell's motives. There was always an intent to make this statement clear. That is what this Opposition has been seeking. That is what I have been trying to do. I do believe that Mrs Carnell had one intent when she made this statement in her press release, and that is what we have been trying to clarify.

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