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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2945 ..

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, Mr De Domenico just indicated that he was about to breach the standing orders of this Assembly. I hope you would call him to order on the issue of standing order 118(a), which states that an answer "shall be concise and confined to the subject matter of the question".

Mrs Carnell: It also says that he can answer questions as he sees fit.

Mr Berry: I cannot find that standing order. I have been searching for that one. Which number is that one? Is that one you have made up along the way, Mrs Carnell? It is not as you see fit; it is in accordance with the standing order. Lean on him, Mr Speaker. Squeeze him down to size.

MR DE DOMENICO: You will not have to squeeze any further to get me any lower.

MR SPEAKER: There is a limit to how far the Chair is going to take this matter, I might add. There is no point of order.

MR DE DOMENICO: For the edification of Ms Follett and Mr Berry in particular, the Government gave a quite clear commitment that 600 staff would transfer across and that all staff transferred would maintain existing terms and conditions of employment, including those covered under existing enterprise agreements. That is quite categorical. Any redundancies will be voluntary - - -

Ms Follett: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. I simply cannot believe that you allow the Minister to remain so irrelevant. The question I asked is: Who will pay for the redundancies? I am still waiting for an answer. I suggest that, if the Minister is not going to answer that, he sit down.

Mr Kaine: On that point of order, Mr Speaker: I cannot believe that you can allow the Opposition to hassle a Minister so frequently and regularly while he is trying to answer a question that they asked.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order from either side of the chamber. As Mr Berry is aware, there is a convention in this place, though there may not be a standing order, that Ministers answer questions as they see fit. I also point out that the Minister will have difficulty in answering a question or a supplementary question if there are constant points of order taken against him.

Ms Follett: He should answer the question.

MR SPEAKER: I would ask members to give Mr De Domenico the opportunity to do so.

Ms Follett: And I would ask you to keep him relevant.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to a further matter which is very specific in the standing orders - that is, that the answer should be concise and confined to the subject matter of the question. If Mr De Domenico cannot answer the question of who pays, he should say nothing.

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