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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2948 ..

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have just taken some advice and I am told that you do not have to move to suspend standing orders. All you need to do is to move that he be given an extension of time.

Motion (by Mr Whitecross) proposed:

That Mr Corbell be given an extension of time of five minutes.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (4.44): In opposing the motion, I point out that normally this place is quite generous about the granting of leave to speak on a variety of subjects and extending speaking times on all sorts of issues; but there has been a longstanding convention in this place, which to my knowledge has never been departed from, that members do not have extensions of time on MPIs. Simply on the basis of that convention in this place, I put it to members that if Mr Corbell wants to make some comments about the Federal Government's performance on greenhouse gases he can go for his life.

Mr Corbell: No, it is your performance, actually, Minister.

MR HUMPHRIES: Or our performance, for that matter. He can go for his life, but he should do so at the appropriate time, which is during the adjournment debate.

MR WHITECROSS (4.45), in reply: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, Mr Humphries got a bit ahead of himself, unless he was speaking to the motion. I thought you were inviting him to consider his position. The reason I am moving this motion is that Mr Humphries has some bad habits. I know he likes to play clever games with the standing orders, but Mr Humphries deliberately took what I regard as very trivial points of order in this debate in order to waste Mr Corbell's time and to prevent Mr Corbell from making very important points about this Government's performance in relation to the greenhouse gas issue. Mr Corbell is entitled to do that. I think he ought to be entitled to take a broad view of what the ACT Government's responsibilities are in relation to this matter and to put those matters on the record in a debate on a matter of public importance. That is what Mr Corbell was seeking to do.

Mr Humphries did not like what Mr Corbell was saying. Mr Humphries is relying on this convention that we do not normally grant extensions of time in MPI debates in order to abuse the standing orders and take points of order to waste Mr Corbell's time. That is not an appropriate use of the standing orders. If Mr Humphries wants conventions respected in relation to extensions of time, then he ought to extend the same courtesies to other members of the house with respect to taking frivolous points of order. During question time Mr Humphries was very sanctimonious.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Mr Whitecross! You are reflecting on the Chair inasmuch as you are implying that the Chair was not conscious that the points of order were frivolous. I would urge you not to do so. The Chair assesses a point of order at the appropriate time.

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