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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2868 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

but at the end of the Estimates Committee process twice - it is in the Hansard - he said, "I understand, I understand". He understood then, on 25 May, but his thinking seems to have got a bit fuzzy since. He no longer understands it, with the result that he brings back to the Assembly this sort of a motion which, as I have said before, can achieve no useful purpose whatsoever. In conclusion, Madam Deputy Speaker, in relation to tourism, this Government is setting a cracking pace, and maybe Mr Corbell and his Opposition colleagues should try to keep up with us instead of lagging so far behind.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Whitecross, before I give you the call I would like to read a statement so that, through it, I can apologise to you and Mr Corbell, because I really should have ruled against the Chief Minister. On 27 August 1996 the Speaker made the following statement in relation to unparliamentary words used against a group or an organisation:

Having considered the matter, I intend to prevent such occurrences in future. From now on, subject to any direction that the Assembly may give me, I intend to adopt the House of Representatives practice, as stated on page 487 of House of Representatives Practice, which quotes the following ruling by Speaker Snedden in 1981 which has been applied by successive Speakers in that house:

I think that if an accusation is made against members of the House which, if made against any one of them, would be unparliamentary and offensive, it is in the interests of the comity of this House that it should not be made against all as it could not be made against one. Otherwise, it may become necessary for every member of the group against whom the words are alleged to stand up and personally withdraw himself or herself from the accusation.

As, of course, Mr Whitecross did. The Speaker continued:

Accordingly, I call upon members to cease using unparliamentary expressions against a group or all members which would be unparliamentary if used against an individual.

That is the ruling that the Speaker made just about a year ago, on 27 August 1996. I am happy to remind members of it and I apologise for not remembering it.

MR WHITECROSS (5.24): I hope that next time the Chief Minister is in the house she will withdraw the unparliamentary remarks she made.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I think it is a good thing that Mr Kaine had a prepared speech to read. He would have had an awful lot of trouble adlibbing that one, because he did not believe a word of it. It would have been pretty hard going trying to think of what to say if someone up in the Chief Minister's office, or wherever it was, had not written it out for him. He knows perfectly well that what he was saying was a load of nonsense.

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