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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1902 ..
Mr Wood: You are panic stricken.
MR BERRY: You are panicking because one of your number is in serious trouble.
MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (10.49): Mr Speaker, this really is a very significant principle we are toying with here. I sympathise with any member of this place who is called away, particularly if there is some family circumstance that the member needs to deal with. We all have sympathy for any member who is faced with those circumstances. But that is not what we are debating here. It is unfortunate. The fact is that this matter proceeded. This matter was put to the vote and it was resolved. It was resolved in accordance with the standing orders. It was resolved in accordance with the practice of this place. It was resolved democratically.
What is now being proposed is quite anti-democratic. It was put to the vote of this place. All of those members who were present and entitled to vote voted.
Mr Humphries: Seventeen members is democratic, not 16 members.
MR STANHOPE: There were 16 members. Every member who was present and entitled to vote voted, and a result was achieved. That is the democratic principle. The government did not like the result so the government is going to run it again. Is this what we are to do every day? Is this what we are to do on every day that there are not 17 members in this place? Is this what we are to do whenever we don't have 17 members, whenever a member of the crossbench is absent?
Mr Moore: If it is necessary.
MR STANHOPE: It is? If it is necessary we just keep recommitting votes until we think we might have the numbers.
Mr Moore: That's right.
MR STANHOPE: That's right, Mr Moore says; we just keep recommitting. We recommit a vote that we have already taken until we achieve the result we want; until we manage to protect one of our colleagues from the severe embarrassment which he obviously feels he is going to have to face.
Mr Moore: Or we look for more cooperation to avoid this sort of thing.
MR STANHOPE: Or we look for more cooperation, says Mr Moore, the most cooperative member of the Assembly, the member who bends over backwards every minute of the day to act in a cooperative and non-adversarial way with his 16 colleagues. We are now extending into the absolutely absurd-the absolute absurdity of Mr Moore suggesting that he is ever interested in working in a cooperative way.
Mr Humphries: Oh, come on Jon.
MR
STANHOPE: No, it has to be said. He is the most adversarial, the most argumentative; the quickest hand in sleeves. Have you seen the speed with which
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