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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 3965 ..

Mr Berry: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.

MRS CARNELL: How can you have a point of order on your own question?

Mr Berry: Answers to questions shall be concise and confined to the subject matter. I want to remind the Chief Minister of the question that I asked. How many such delegations have been made since the Act commenced, how many have you approved, and will you table them all by the close of business?

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Resume your seat, Mr Berry. Mrs Carnell is in the middle of answering the question.

MRS CARNELL: I have not even got to the middle.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, what Mr Berry just did was to use a so-called point of order to simply repeat his question. That is not what points of order are allowed for. There is no point of order which allows you to repeat a question.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. I am sure that Mrs Carnell is well aware of the question, because she was just about to answer it.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, to my knowledge, I have not actually made any delegations; but the point that Mr Berry made is, of course, no longer relevant because, as Mr Berry would know if he had actually read the documentation that has been released recently, the other psychiatrists in our service have agreed to fill the statutory position of director on a rotating basis until the chair of psychiatry is appointed by the Sydney University. We have psychiatrists who are willing to fill that position in the meantime.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. The answer should be confined to the subject matter of the question.

MR SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. Resume your seat, Mr Berry.

Mr De Domenico: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I refer you to standing order 61, which says that a member shall not interrupt another member. Mr Berry is continually interrupting, preventing the Chief Minister from answering a question. It was Mr Berry's question, after all. I think he should show the Chief Minister the courtesy of allowing her to answer that question. If he does not show that courtesy, perhaps you should name him, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, may I respond to that?

MR SPEAKER: No, you may not. Sit down. We are in the middle of questions.

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