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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 7 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 1880 ..

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (12.13): Mr Speaker, I move the following amendment:

Omit the words after "censure", substitute "Mrs Carnell and the Department of Health and Community Care for misleading the Assembly and the community by publishing false and misleading figures in relation to the number of operations conducted in ACT public hospitals".

Mr Speaker, this has been an important debate. What we have seen today is that the stunt which Mrs Carnell pulled yesterday and which she has been milking in the media for all it is worth for the last 24 hours is nothing but a fabrication, nothing but a paper-thin tissue of allegations. Chicken Woman would not even move the motion. I withdraw that, Mr Speaker. Mrs Carnell would not even move the motion.

Members interjected.

Ms McRae: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I remember being called to order for one interjection while the members of the Government were speaking. May I just remind you of that call to order. Perhaps you could apply it now.

MR SPEAKER: I think it is timely, Ms McRae, to remind all members that this is an important debate and that speakers on their feet are entitled to be heard in silence.

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, Mr Humphries defended Mrs Carnell's stunt yesterday. It is not surprising that Mrs Carnell got Mr Humphries to do it. They call him "Patsy" in the party room, because he has to get up and take the rap for Mrs Carnell's stupid procedures.

Mr De Domenico: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: Mr Whitecross - we know who he is, but nobody else does - insists on trying to play Rambo or whoever. Perhaps he should call Mrs Carnell by her correct name and Mr Humphries by his correct name and we in turn will call Ms McRae by her correct name as well.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order, and I would suggest that members refer to people by their correct names.

MR WHITECROSS: I will try to restrain myself. I did actually refer to Mr Humphries by his correct name.

Mr Humphries came in here to defend Mrs Carnell's stunt yesterday because they knew that it was too thin an argument for Mrs Carnell to run on her own. It would have been too bad for a leader to turn up and run an argument as thin as the argument Mr Humphries had to run, so they got Mr Humphries to do it. Let us have a look at it. Mr Humphries comes in and says that Mr Berry has misled the house about the number of operations. What did Mr Humphries produce? Did Mr Humphries produce any evidence of Mr Berry actually having misled the house? No, he did not. He did not produce a single shred of evidence that Mr Berry had known about these figures when they were being compiled inside the department. He did not present a single piece of evidence that

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