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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3524 ..

MR PRATT (continuing):

should have his portfolios taken from him, and I call upon the Chief Minister, in that light, to perhaps move Mr Corbell to the back bench.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (3.45): I will make a few points in relation to this debate. I will make the point, in relation to the motion that was moved-and it is a fair point that we did not make the point at the time-that the motion was out of order. The motion does require-

MR SPEAKER: Order, Chief Minister. Resume your seat. I think that is a reflection on the vote. If I can intervene for a moment, if a point of order had been raised at the time, that may have been something to reflect on, but I would ask you not to reflect on the previous motion that was before the Assembly.

MR STANHOPE: I take the point, Mr Speaker. Thank you.

Mrs Dunne: On the point of order-

MR SPEAKER: I have already ordered. Resume your seat, Mrs Dunne.

MR STANHOPE: I have accepted the point of order. I think it is fair to say, Mr Speaker, that we are debating here a motion that was passed at the end of August. One may reflect, without reflecting on that vote, Mr Speaker, that, if one had been inclined at the time to raise a point of order to the effect that the motion was out of order, I think that point of order would have been given serious consideration, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I think, Chief Minister, I have made my will clear in relation to reflections on votes in the Assembly and motions that have been before the Assembly, so I would ask you again to desist.

Mrs Dunne: Mr Speaker, I would like to raise a point of order which is different from the one on which you just ruled, which is that the Chief Minister has on two occasions actually reflected on a ruling that you made prior to today, and that is absolutely disorderly.

MR SPEAKER: I think the Chief Minister clearly understands the position.

MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, I will not go to that point.

I think it is important, though, having listened to the debate today and the discussion on the Westminster system and the operations of a Westminster system, systems that we embrace and endorse in this place, that we have some understanding of motions that make requests or directions of the executive of the government. That is at the heart of the censure motion that has been moved today: we are debating a motion that was passed in August, which called on the Minister for Planning to undertake certain actions. It was an expression of the will of the Assembly.

The Assembly passed a motion to the effect that the ACT government, through the respective minister, the Minister for Planning, should:

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