Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3303 ..

Mr Whitecross: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker. Mrs Carnell cannot say that what a member said was not the truth.

MR SPEAKER: We have yet to hear.

Mr Whitecross: I am sorry; she just cannot do it.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, you have ruled on this before. To say someone is untruthful or a liar is unparliamentary; but to say that what they have said is not the truth, you have ruled before, is not unparliamentary.

MR SPEAKER: I also have not heard why Mrs Carnell is making that statement.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, Mr Whitecross said in his question that Birmingham was the single biggest venue. The fact is it was not the single biggest venue; Athens was.

Mr Berry: I take a point of order. Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell said that what Mr Whitecross said was not the truth. That imputes that he is lying, and it should be withdrawn immediately.

MR SPEAKER: No.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I press my point of order, too. You have ruled in the past that there is a difference between saying something is untrue and saying that someone is lying.

MR SPEAKER: As far as I am concerned, Mrs Carnell has just explained the reason for her making a statement - that Mr Whitecross made reference to the fact that Birmingham was the - - -

MRS CARNELL: The largest venue. They had the biggest crowds.

MR SPEAKER: It had the biggest crowds.

MRS CARNELL: And it was not the truth.

MR SPEAKER: Mrs Carnell has just pointed out that that was incorrect because there was some other city that had larger crowds.

Mr Whitecross: Okay. Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question.

MRS CARNELL: I have not finished. Other comments or other statements that Mr Whitecross made in his question also were not strictly the whole truth, shall we say. Mr Speaker, 40 per cent of soccer crowds in Birmingham came from outside the State. Add the fact that 15,000 households in the ACT have a soccer player as part of the household, and I believe we can do that as well. Take into account the western suburbs of Sydney and how close they are now to Canberra. Take into account that we do have 700,000 people in our region. I believe that Canberrans, apart from those opposite,

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .