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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 3685 ..

MR QUINLAN: I would then point out to the government that, although you have listed the clubs that are making donations, many of the recipients of these funds will also be called clubs. They will be clubs created for recreational purposes or sporting purposes.

Mr Humphries: But they are not licensed clubs with gaming machines.

MR QUINLAN: Probably not. I need to be assured on that and I think that the club industry needs to be assured on that because it would have reason for disquiet upon reading attachment 1A. Thank you for your indulgence, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: That is quite all right, Mr Quinlan. I am anxious to have this matter resolved and it seems to me that the best way of doing so is over the dinner break. I understand that it is the wish of the Assembly to suspend for dinner.

Mr Berry: No, it is not.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health, Housing and Community Care) (6.32): Mr Speaker, I move:

Mr Speaker, the reason I need to move this motion is that I did try to negotiate with Mr Berry. Granted, he says that there is a convention that says that at 4.30 pm we make these kinds of decisions. I went to each of the members before that time and said that it looked like we would be able to move through this debate quickly. In fact, the debate has been quite arduous, but there was no indication that that would be the case. By 5.30 pm it was clear that we would not be able to do that, Mr Speaker. We pushed the day back to 6.30 pm to try to give people time to know what was happening, but it is clear that this debate will go through to tonight and we need to suspend from 6.30 till 8.00 pm.

MR BERRY (6.33): Mr Speaker, I want to put on record my concern about this piece of mismanagement. There is a convention, as Mr Moore has said, that we tell staff by 4.30 pm. There are good industrial relations reasons for that. There are good family reasons as well. It enables people to inform their families and take the necessary family actions that they have to take, such as arranging child care, with plenty of notice.

I was advised at 4.30 pm that the intention of the government was to rise at 7.00 pm. Staff have subsequently been informed otherwise. As Mr Moore said, at 5.30 pm he came over and said that the conditions had changed and the government wanted to proceed. That is not the way to carry through the boast of having good industrial relations which the minister made at question time. It is not a good way to do business. I make the protest and I will make it louder if it ever happens again.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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