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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 6 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 1738 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

So, Mr Speaker, last week Mr Stanhope was saying that this is a debate we cannot run away from. We have to debate it fully, properly and appropriately, to use his words. What has happened this week, Mr Speaker? Mr Stanhope, again last week, also said this:

It appals me that we could even contemplate debating and passing this sort of legislation without due, careful, considered and detailed community debate and consultation.

Mr Speaker, I repeat: "Due, careful, considered and detailed community debate and consultation". Mr Stanhope said that last week. Mr Berry last week said this:

I thought Mr Osborne had more guts than this, but apparently not. He wants to avoid the public debate that goes with these sorts of moves.

Mr Speaker, where is the guts now? Mr Berry said last week that Mr Osborne did not have any guts because he wanted to debate it quickly. This week Mr Berry does not want it debated at all. Yes, it is a difficult issue, Mr Speaker. Mr Berry, last week, was making comments about Mr Humphries, I think, not wanting to have the debate. The fact is, Mr Speaker, that this side of the house will not run away from what is a difficult debate - one on which there are many views on this side of the house, and one on which there are many views in the community. Last week those opposite said quite definitely that this is a debate that we must have.

Mr Berry: No, they did not.

MS CARNELL: Sorry; yes, you did. You said that this is a debate we must have. Mr Speaker, Mr Berry said in 1994 that he believed it was a debate that male legislators had a tendency to run away from. We will not be running away from this debate. It seems that Mr Berry, Mr Stanhope and his male colleagues will.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.05): The members of the Labor team are not at all afraid of this debate. There is a range of views within the Labor caucus, just as there is within the Liberal Party. This is not a debate we are afraid to have, and this is not a debate we seek to deny to Mr Osborne. The Labor Party has absolutely no intention or desire to inhibit any debate on this subject, and has expressed no such intention. The ALP - - -

Ms Carnell: Well, what does taking it off the notice paper do?

MR STANHOPE: To put it into some context, the motion requests Mr Osborne to reconsider the wisdom of his Bill. The motion requests him to withdraw it, just as a motion which the ALP moved last week requested the Government to reconsider its decision in relation to funding of the Institute of the Arts. It was a request which the Government ignored. This motion is in exactly the same terms. It is a motion requesting Mr Osborne to reconsider the wisdom of introducing - - -

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