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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1880 ..
MR CORBELL
(continuing):I do not think for a moment that the Assembly should continue to allow Mr Smyth to make these sorts of allegations. They are completely inappropriate, completely unfounded and are an abuse of privilege. Further, Mr Smyth is introducing a report that members still have not seen. We still have not actually seen the report; it hasn't been tabled in this place-
Mrs Dunne
: Point of order, Mr Speaker.MR SPEAKER
: Point of order, Mrs Dunne.Mrs Dunne
: Mr Speaker, the fact that the report has not arrived here, presumably because the secretariat staff are still photocopying it, is irrelevant to the question of whether or not the standing orders should be suspended.MR CORBELL
: This is a shoddy, grubby, revolting little attempt to blame and name public servants. That is all it is. The government is prepared to be accountable for its actions. But don't get into the muck and mud-slinging around public servants. On those grounds I do not believe that the Leader of the Opposition should be granted further permission to speak on his report. He has abused the privilege, and he should not be allowed to continue.MR STEFANIAK
(11.24): Mr Speaker, the chair of the Estimates Committee is presenting a most important report. It is absolutely extraordinary that he has not been given leave by all members to finish speaking on his report. He said something Mr Corbell took offence at. They had a point of order that took up 41/2 minutes of debate. He now wants to get on with it.I see he has a number of pages left in this most important document, which members of the committee have been working on very diligently and finished only late last night. He has a lot of other things to say, and I think it is absolutely outrageous that Mr Corbell, in his petulant little way, because he did not like some point Mr Smyth was making, refuses to give him leave to finish talking on the report.
It has been a longstanding practice in this Assembly that when members seek an extension of time they are given it. I have been here, Mr Speaker, as you have, for most of the time of this Assembly, and I am well aware that members invariably get extensions of time and sometimes get extensions of extensions. An estimates committee is one of the most important roles the Assembly has. We are getting into the report by the chair of the committee now. The chair still has a fair amount of his report to give, and I think it is only right that he is able to do so.
As to some of the other points Mr Corbell raises, it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I think his comments are quite outrageous. I sat here for 61/2 years when the then opposition was slagging people and quite often naming them. But let's get on with the work of the Estimates Committee. Let's get on with hearing what the chair has to say about the very detailed estimates process we have just finished and that he, as chair, is now reporting on.
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