Page 4623 - Week 14 - Thursday, 24 November 2005
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR CORBELL: Maybe the Liberal Party is finding the workload a bit too onerous. They have to read reports that are tabled in the Assembly.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR CORBELL: It is not good enough not to show up to committee meetings and not to read committee reports and not to look at budget papers so as to understand what the appropriation is about.
Opposition members interjecting—
Mr Mulcahy: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order.
MR SPEAKER: Order! I warn you, Mr Seselja. I have called the opposition to order on several occasions during this debate. Interjections will cease. Mr Mulcahy, what is your point of order?
Mr Mulcahy: My point of order relates to relevance, which you have stressed, Mr Speaker. I do not think Mr Seselja’s involvement with committees has the slightest bit to do with this dissertation that we are hearing from Mr Corbell.
MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, it is entirely relevant because the opposition are saying they do not want to give the Chief Minister leave to give information. They have denied the Chief Minister leave to give information, and I am explaining to you clearly what sort of opposition takes those steps and opposes a Chief Minister giving information in this place. It is clearly not good enough for Mr Seselja, Mr Smyth and the rest of the opposition to say—
Mr Mulcahy: Point of order, Mr Speaker. He is going back again, Mr Speaker, to the issue of Mr Seselja and committees. I again draw to your attention that he is not staying relevant to the matter before the Assembly.
MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, I am making the argument that the opposition should be interested in information before this place and that is why they should give leave.
MR SPEAKER: That is relevant.
MR CORBELL: Clearly they are not interested. That is very disappointing for the government. Any government is only as good as its opposition. Unfortunately, at this stage the opposition are not doing their job. It is the Zed Seselja school of opposition. It is about not scrutinising documents, not showing up for meetings and, now, not even giving ministers leave to give information. If that is the way you want to do it, I am sure the government will be very happy to oblige.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (3.52): Mr Speaker, the position that the opposition has taken this afternoon is not a blanket one. It is one to impress upon the government the need to communicate across the chamber. What happened this morning—and this is
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .