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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2776 ..

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. Resume your seat, Ms McRae.

Ms McRae: Yes, there is. I will take it up with the Speaker, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The word "harlot" was not used, but the word "sneaky" was, and I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw it.

Mr Berry: Is "sneaky" going to be added to the list of unparliamentary language?

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are withdrawing it; is that so?

Mr Berry: Is it added to the list of unparliamentary - - -

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are withdrawing it, are you, sir?

Mr Berry: Yes; only at the risk of being thrown out, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Righto. Thank you.

MRS CARNELL: Very appropriate. Thank you very much, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. We have learnt over a number of years that the only way we can make significant progress, particularly in the social reform areas, is if we act as an Assembly and we act together. I believe we have done that very successfully in a number of areas. Up until recently the area of drug law reform has been one of those. There are a number of others as well, such as our changes in prostitution law. In a number of areas we have chosen, as an Assembly, to take a particular approach which is in the interests of the community.

Mr Berry: Stop whining and take your medicine.

MRS CARNELL: What we have seen from Mr Berry over the last couple of weeks is a significant step backwards for this Assembly. For me personally, I think one of the things we have done best in this Assembly is to be able to take on board an issue such as drug law reform and treat it as adults rather than in the way that Mr Berry seems to want to treat it. Let us hope that this is a mere aberration for Mr Berry and that in future he understands that politics, and certainly being Leader of the Opposition, does require a tiny bit of leadership. That should not mean that, just because a few people come into his office and say, "We think you should be tough on drugs", he should come out and say, "Put them all in the clink", or whatever; and that it is a good approach.

Ms McRae: When did he say that? When did he say "Put them in the clink."?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Berry said some people came to his office and he responded to them. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, that is not leadership, and I hope that Mr Berry realises that this is not the way to go.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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