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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (18 June) . . Page.. 1767 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

We heard the same from Mr Humphries. He was absurdly concerned about how we are manipulating for profiles. Dear, oh dear! They are the Government; we are the Opposition. I will let you all into a secret. You want to get rid of us. You do not want us here. I have never heard anything so extraordinary. If you want to keep us right here, you are telling us how to go out and improve our profiles. There is a little bit of extraordinarily inconsistent logic there.

We come into this debate as if this is the only time this issue has ever been faced by any parliament in Australia. What a joke! I will long remember Mr Moore's laughter. Never have I remembered more the adage that he who laughs last laughs best. I intend to stay here long enough so I can win on that one. He had his laugh today, but we will see.

My amendment is a direct appeal for a bit of commonsense. Instead of putting words into our mouths, motives into our plans, interpretations into random figures, let us just take a long sip of cold water and think about the issues that we are putting before you. In every other case - - -

Mr Hird: The issue is that you have to look after Andrew.

MS McRAE: Here we go again, Mr Hird. Thank you for interpreting what our intentions are. I would look after Mrs Carnell far more than we have to look after Andrew. Let me remind you that 78 per cent recognised her, but 44 per cent had not made up their minds how to vote. I think that is a very strong indictment of those who know her. To know, know, know you is not to love, love, love you, Mrs Carnell, to quote a song. I would worry much more about Mrs Carnell than I would ever worry about Mr Whitecross.

Let us just get back to what we are talking about. We are worrying about an amendment to a standing order. In every other instance where we have gone down this track we have let the Administration and Procedure Committee have a look at it. We have gathered the information as to what is done in other parliaments and why, and with the information before us we have leapt in and changed or not changed the standing orders. We have not provided gratuitous advice. We have not reinterpreted each other's motives. We have allowed the standing order to be examined coldly, carefully and with information, and then reported back.

Mrs Carnell: Garbage!

MS McRAE: Here we go again. Put any interpretation you like on it, but that is the way we have dealt with the standing orders before. If you people think it is your job to improve all our profiles individually, by all means go ahead. Do anything you can. We will accept anything you want to do to improve our profiles. But we have every right to come in here as a party and ask that the Assembly consider something that is done in many another parliament for a range of reasons - historical, good or bad. Here we have a group of uninformed people who cannot tell me which parliaments it is done in, which parliaments it is not done in and why; so I am putting forward my amendment so that the Administration and Procedure Committee can go away and do its homework, which is what the committee is there for. Then we can bring the vote back to the Assembly.

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