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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 4 Hansard (27 March) . . Page.. 888 ..

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, as I understand it, the Assembly has given leave for the government, should it wish, to move a motion of confidence in the Speaker.

Mr Berry: Do it.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, the government sees no reason to do that. We have every confidence in the Speaker. There is absolutely no reason for us to do that. Thank you for the opportunity. I will now proceed. I seek leave to move a motion to amend certain standing orders and to insert a new standing order.

Leave not granted.

Motion to amend standing orders

Suspension of standing and temporary orders

MR MOORE (Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services) (10.36): Mr Speaker, I move:

Mr Speaker, we need to suspend standing and temporary orders following the way this Assembly closed down the last day of sitting. There are two ways of dealing with this issue. Mr Berry's way, in his earlier attempt without any notice whatsoever, was to say, "Will you move a motion of confidence?" Mr Berry, we have confidence in the Speaker. We do not feel the need to do that. But we do recognise that the circumstances that arose in the our last few minutes of our last sitting were unacceptable and inappropriate and that action does need to be taken to reinforce the power of the Speaker, in whom we have confidence. For that reason, I have moved for the suspension of standing orders to allow us to consider the appropriate standing orders.

I would point out, Mr Speaker, that we have been through quite a long process with the standing orders. As members would well know because we circulated possible changes to standing orders to all members and discussed them at length, there was a range of approaches. The approach that I will be putting shortly, if the Assembly agrees to suspend standing orders, will be for a sin bin power that protects the rights of members to vote. I extend my thanks to the Clerk, as always, for his involvement in coming up with this protection of members

Mr Stanhope: And your staff.

MR MOORE: And my staff. Perhaps I should not take them for granted. Thank you for reminding me, Mr Stanhope. It is appropriate that I move for the suspension of standing and temporary orders at the beginning of this sitting of the Assembly to deal with an issue that was a problem at the end of the last sitting.

MR KAINE (10.38): Mr Speaker, I move the following amendment to Mr Moore's motion for the suspension of standing and temporary orders:

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