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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2986 ..

Mr Corbell: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Chief Minister is persistently interjecting. I would ask you to call her to order.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.

MR BERRY: It is very clear that the Greens are quite happy that members of the Ainslie Football Club will have some of their benefits sent off in other directions because the Chief Minister wants them to impress her with their commitment to one part of the community or another - not specifically the sporting community and not specifically the community organisations, but a hypothetical organisation that might be declared by the Minister.

I want to get back to what Mr Moore has said. He has missed the point. I do not think he has read the legislation. Mr Moore is quite boastful about his ability to read these things, but he has not taken on the point here adequately. He said that if an organisation was declared by the Minister that could be dealt with by way of a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 10 of the Subordinate Laws Act. That is true of the legislation as it stands. He must not have been listening when I was trying to point out to him and others here that there is no right of appeal against the Minister refusing to make a decision.

Mrs Carnell: Except in the Assembly.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell says, "Except in the Assembly". Where does it say in this legislation, Mrs Carnell, that if an organisation has been rejected by the Minister for declaration by a notice in the Gazette the Assembly can reinstate it?

MR SPEAKER: Do not ask rhetorical questions.

MR BERRY: They would not know about it. That is why my amendments are in place - to ensure that an organisation not declared by the Minister can be an organisation for the purposes of this legislation, not just one upon which the Government wants to bestow some sort of patronage. The Government is saying, "If you are an organisation we like, we will declare you. Therefore, you can get charitable benefits from the club industry". That is an outrageous position and it shows how shonky the thinking processes are.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, the word "shonky" is unparliamentary. I have said that repeatedly.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I have not directed it at any particular person and I would not do so. It shows how shonky the thinking processes of people behind this legislation are.

Mrs Carnell: Mr Speaker, yesterday you ruled that you could not use a blunt unparliamentary statement collectively.

MR BERRY: Collectively is out now, is it?

MR SPEAKER: Yes. It always has been.

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