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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3300 ..

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, this is about much more than just soccer. It is about making Canberra an important part of the world's biggest event, the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is the single biggest event in the world, of any sort, Mr Speaker. We make no apologies for fighting hard - - -

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, the Opposition has continued to carp across the chamber during this question. It really is very discourteous, apart from anything else, to the Chief Minister to treat the answers she is giving to questions in that way.

Ms McRae: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: If we are speaking about discourtesy, perhaps the same rule could be applied to the Chief Minister, and particularly in respect of her allegations about our behaviour, of which she knew nothing.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, that is not a point of order.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Mr Corbell: I take a point of order. Mr Speaker, you have ruled previously that the Opposition should not interject; but at the same time you have ruled, on occasion, that Ministers answering questions should not provoke members to interject. I would ask you to make that ruling again to the other side of the house.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order, as well. Three times in the course of question time today - in fact, three times, I think, in the course of this single question and answer - members opposite have risen to make points under the guise of points of order. I appreciate that you, as Speaker, have to be in the position of hearing a point of order, even if it is not a point of order; but, if a member persists in making points of debate under the thinly disguised guise of points of order, that member should be brought to account.

MR SPEAKER: I would remind members of standing order 202(a) and (b) - persistently and wilfully obstructing the business of the Assembly and being guilty of disorderly conduct. I have certainly made a ruling in the past about provocation. I rule provocation in terms of attacks on particular members which may, in fact, result in a response from them. I will not tolerate constant interjections from either side of the house when somebody is either asking a question or answering one.

MRS CARNELL: We make no apologies for fighting hard to win the Olympic events or to attract visiting Olympic teams. We are out there giving it our best shot, and a pretty good shot, I must say. I believe we can fill Bruce Stadium for Olympic soccer, but this is about much more than simply bums on seats at Olympic events. It is about the tremendous excitement of being part of the Olympics, and the promotional benefits of hosting Olympic soccer. The Labor Party are happy to thumb their noses at the biggest event in the world and say, "It is not worth our while to be part of the Olympics"; but I believe I would be letting down the people of Canberra if we did not do everything we can do to ensure Canberra shares in the Olympics.

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