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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 2975 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

idea. I have not got anything to hide, and I do not know that anybody else in here should have either. If somebody has got something to hide, too bad, because we really have to be purer than the driven snow.

I heard the latter part of the debate. I think Mr Moore was wailing about our connections with the Labor Club and so on an so forth. Well, I bet he would not be wailing if he had similar connections with, say, the Michael Moore club or the Residents Rally club or something like that. The same applies to the Liberals and their wailing about the licensed club. If they had a licensed club of their own they would not be wailing about it in respect to somebody else. Mind you, I would say that they would only need a small building these days.

Mr Quinlan: If they want a small club, give them a big club and let them manage it for a while.

MR BERRY: I will put that interjection on the record. Mr Quinlan just said that if you want the Liberals to have a small club, give them a big one and let them manage it for a while.

Mr Speaker, I have not got a lot more to say on this matter except to reaffirm the need for caution. I know what will happen the next time I go to the pub or the club or wander down the street. I know what questions will be put to me. People will say, "What are you people trying to hide?" That will be the question, and I will say, "I don't know." Now nobody will be able to clear the slate by making a declaration in accordance with the act because the government wants to change it. The reasons, to me, are quite obscure and risky if the standing of this legislature is of any value to anybody in this place.

I sincerely think that this is a mad move. In the first place, we ought to delay it. I just cannot see an argument-there isn't one to me-that says we should not all be trying to ratchet up our obligations to demonstrate to the community that we are honest brokers so far as the making of laws is concerned in the management of this territory.

There is one final point and that is the issue of laws to require us to vote or not to vote on certain things. I think this crosses some boundaries. I am sure there are constitutional reasons that we should not cross. How on earth can this place say to members in this place, "You can't vote on certain matters." One thing you can do, of course, is declare that somebody has a conflict of interest in this place. That is open to us here under the standing orders, but to try to rule somebody out from voting on a particular issue is just crazy. It is a bit like saying to me that-

MR SPEAKER: The member's time has expired.

MR BERRY: Give me a couple of minutes, Mr Speaker. Just because you are bored with this debate and you do not like it does not mean that other members do not have a right to speak.

MR SPEAKER: You have had 15 minutes already.

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