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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2534 ..

Mr Humphries: That is making a personal inference in a personal explanation. It can hardly be within standing orders.

MR SPEAKER: That is right. I uphold the point of order.

MR BERRY: That was gratuitous advice.

MR SPEAKER: It was most gratuitous.

MR BERRY: It was gratuitous advice to Mrs Littlewood, but I thought it would be helpful for her in the future to avoid being involved with Mr Humphries's office too much. Mr Speaker, my office has nothing to do with the students organisation to which Mr Humphries refers. Mr Humphries attempted to imply that, because of some direct association in my office with the president of the Labor Party, I could influence them to do something or other about the students organisation to which he had referred in his imputation. The fact of the matter, Mr Speaker, is that the president of the Labor Party does not work in my office. I think that this was merely an attempt to render some spite on a staff member of mine, rather than have any meaningful - - -

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, again, Mr Berry is using a personal explanation to make personal comments about the members of this place.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. A personal explanation relates to matters of a personal nature, Mr Berry. To date you have been exemplary, except for one little slip; but now you are moving into non-personal matters.

MR BERRY: You are so generous. Mr Humphries attempted to infer that in some way I could influence a staff member of mine to do something about this matter which he has raised. Mr Humphries is the Attorney-General and if something illegal has occurred he ought to do something about it, instead of asking other people to do something about it in some sort of prankish way. This is nothing more, Mr Speaker, than an undergraduate or schoolboy prank, and it has to be identified as such.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General): Under standing order 46, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a personal explanation as well.

MR SPEAKER: Proceed.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I did not suggest that there was some relationship between Mr Berry's office and the Labor Students Club. I did not suggest that there was some requirement for Mr Berry to exercise influence over his staff. I did say, however, that he was familiar with - that he knew quite well - the president of the Labor Party and that he might therefore be able, as leader of the Labor Party, which he is, to prevail upon the president of the Labor Party, of which he is the leader, to at least respond to my correspondence. That was a perfectly reasonable thing, Mr Speaker, and I stand by it.

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