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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1034 ..

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have heard a bit of this from Ms McRae and now it comes from Mr Berry. I would ask you to give a ruling on whether the conservatives, as Mr Berry so colourfully describes them, really have anything to do with the motion that is before the Assembly today. It is a motion about the views expressed by Pauline Hanson.

MR SPEAKER: I must uphold - - -

MR BERRY: I expected you to, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I do uphold the point of order, Mr Berry. Come back to the motion that Mr Wood moved.

MR BERRY: Indeed. Ms Hanson, of course, was a member of the major conservative party in Australia. Had she not made the mistake of making some racist taunts in the course of an election campaign, I suspect she would still be a member of the Liberal Party. She was elected by the conservatives to be a candidate for the Liberal Party in her electorate. Had she not made the mistake of making a racist taunt in the course of an election campaign and embarrassed and damaged the chances of the Liberals, I suspect she would still be a member of the Liberal Party. Had she won under that banner, she would be in parliament with the same views that she has now but as a Liberal. Mr Speaker, one of the problems for me is separating Ms Hanson from the general conservative push against those areas of concern.

Much has been said about Aboriginals and anybody who looks different from an Anglo-Saxon, it seems. What has happened is that cheap politicking has generated an icon, if you like, for all of those in the community who would profit from divisiveness. It is the politics of opportunities to prey upon small groups within the community and make victims out of them in order that somebody can profit politically. It is usually surrounded by simplistic slogans, such as has been the case with Ms Hanson. Those simplistic slogans were also used in the lead-up to the last election and were used in the lead-up to several State elections by conservative politicians.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I again rise on the point of order and I ask you to rule on this again. Mr Berry has been told that the motion is about Pauline Hanson.

MR BERRY: Why don't you throw me out, Mr Speaker? Try that one on.

Mr Humphries: He clearly wants to make his remarks about somebody else. I am very happy to have a debate about the conservatives at another stage, but it is a bit much to waste the Assembly's time when we have another matter before us, namely, the matter of Pauline Hanson's comments.

MR SPEAKER: Yes. Mr Berry, address your remarks to Mr Wood's motion. Speakers before you have talked about the bipartisan nature of this motion. I am not at all sure that your comments are necessarily assisting that, but that is your affair. My job is to make sure that you do restrict yourself to the motion which is before the Assembly. I would ask you again to do that. I uphold the point of order.

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