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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4478 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

The tools that are available to the Speaker are quite clearly spelt out. In my opinion, he can call for order and call for order again. If then a member wilfully disobeys, it is then that the member should be thrown out. Mr Berry was not called to order. I do not care about the warning. That is an arbitrary fiction in the Speaker's head. The standing orders require the Speaker to call the house to order. The standing orders require that before a member is named the member must have wilfully disobeyed that order. In neither case did the Speaker orchestrate the conflict to show that clearly the member was defying him. Mr Berry, at the point when he was named today, was not defying a specific order. He was defying a general piece of advice, which does not stay within the standing orders, but Mr Speaker did not say, "I demand absolute silence". The interjection was not picked up by most people.

Mr Speaker can intervene when he chooses. That is up to him. I am suggesting that he has lost control. In my opinion, there are several levels of calling to order to test whether a person is going to defy you or not, to the point of standing up. I remember testing this out with Mr Moore, and when Mr Moore wanted to defy me he chose to defy me. It is at that point that a Speaker should act, not arbitrarily and wilfully out of bad temper and, most of all, not arbitrarily and wilfully because the Chief Minister happens not to like something. That is what we see. That is what happens. By not applying the rules the Speaker makes it clear that he has lost control. Therefore, he has lost my confidence.

MR WHITECROSS (5.24), in reply: Mr Speaker, I thank members for their contributions to this debate. I want to make reference to a number of issues that have been raised in the course of the debate. Mr Moore said that it was a sad day for the Assembly when a motion of this kind is moved, and of course it is; but that does not take away from the seriousness and the earnestness with which the motion was moved. Mr Moore said that it is an unfortunate waste of time, and of course it is an unfortunate waste of time; but it is a necessary waste of time brought about by the biased approach that we have seen from the Chair. That is why it is important.

Every time the Opposition seeks to call to account a member of the Government, a member of the Liberal Party, we hear the complaint from the crossbenchers that this is an awful waste of time and that there are other important things they would like to discuss, and every time they are right. The Opposition would rather not be in the position of having to move censure motions, or on this occasion a motion of lack of confidence in the Speaker; but it becomes necessary to move these motions in order to express the dissatisfaction of members on this side with the conduct of this house. If that takes up time, then that is an unfortunate fact; but it is a necessary thing.

Ms Tucker talked about the importance of drawing lines in the sand and being consistent and, having drawn a line in the sand, the importance of ensuring that people understand that you mean it when you do it. Yes, of course, Ms Tucker; but in this place the line is drawn at a different place in the sand every day. The fact is that today the Speaker came in with a determination to draw the line very tightly in front of Mr Berry's shoes so that the moment he took a step forward he would be over the line and he would be warned and he would be named. That is the reality. If we have a consistent approach, we should have a line that is in the sand in the same place all the time, not a line that moves around according to the whim of the Liberal Party party room and the Chief Minister. We should have a consistent approach which we all understand and all can abide by.

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