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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1491 ..

MR PRATT (11.57): Mrs Dunne’s action concerning the flyer was found to be in contempt, but the committee found that no further action should be taken. That is about where it should have been left. I am disappointed that Ms MacDonald, a member of the privileges committee and part of the unanimous agreement on that finding, has found herself in a difficult position, having been left in a lurch by the governing party.

Clearly, the government has taken no notice of Ms MacDonald’s position vis-a-vis the inquiry’s findings, which is very disturbing. I believe that it is most relevant to draw attention today to the very difficult position that Ms MacDonald is in, because I think that it is a reflection on the veracity or otherwise of the government’s decision today to run a censure motion.

I wish to make two points, Mr Speaker. Firstly, the so-called authenticity of the government’s call for a censure has been undermined by the fact that a member of the governing party signed up to a recommendation that found Mrs Dunne in contempt and recommended that there be no further action. Did Ms MacDonald submit a dissenting report? No, she did not. Ms MacDonald clearly has been steamrolled and kicked aside by the government. That shows what the ALP thinks of the member for Brindabella.

That brings me to my second point. Mr Speaker, I am disturbed by the rampant disconnection of Ms MacDonald’s position. Having made decisions in committee, she was quite happy today to stand up here and add weight to the government’s censure motion. She has acted beyond her duty, that is, she has acted beyond the joint committee decision making process. I might add that her actions in rising today to speak on the basis of a newspaper article versus the position that she previously took as a member of a committee just reflect poorly on her. How can the constituents of Brindabella have any confidence in the consistency of Ms MacDonald?

I must say that I was mightily disappointed to see Mrs Cross pull this censure debate down to a piece of horse trading.

Ms MacDonald: Mr Pratt is turning this debate into one about me. I do not believe that the censure motion is about me, Mr Speaker.

MR PRATT: Could I speak to that, Mr Speaker?

MR SPEAKER: I will deal with it first, Mr Pratt. I think that it is relevant to the debate, because there are members who were party to a decision in the report. I think that it is relevant to the debate.

MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, the point that I have been making is that Ms MacDonald’s position in all of this has undermined the government’s attack. Mr Speaker, I was going on to say that I was extremely disappointed to see Mrs Cross pull this censure debate down to what I can only describe as a piece of horse trading. This place is not an Egyptian souk, a bazaar. It is the chamber and a matter of great seriousness has been brought on today by the government here, so the debate is very serious. I very much doubt that the privileges committee report, which we have to accept, would want to be associated with some tacky power play and colourful horse trading.

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