Page 518 - Week 02 - Thursday, 9 March 2006
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Mr Stefaniak: You started it.
Mrs Burke: That’s a silly argument.
MR QUINLAN: If the opposition were so concerned about what time was available—
Mrs Burke: That’s laughable.
Mr Stefaniak: Don’t do silly motions.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mrs Burke and Mr Stefaniak, Mr Quinlan has the call.
MR QUINLAN: If the opposition were so concerned—
Mrs Burke: Oh, dear!
Mr Stefaniak interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order! I have just called you to order and you have completely ignored me. I will not tolerate that.
MR QUINLAN: If the opposition were so concerned about the limited amount of time to get through the paper of the day, why were they still keen to carry on in that debate? I think the answer is that the manager of opposition business stuffed up. It was your job. If you are concerned to ensure that the whole program is addressed in the day, and if it is your own party that is taking up a large slice of the time, you are as much as, if not more than, anybody else at fault. So it shows great humbug to walk out here and move this motion today, immediately the day after. You need to brush up on your job, as this was pretty hopeless management on your part. But this is, like a number of things that occur in this place, just a little bit of a stunt, and I really think you ought to get a bit more sophistication in your political tactics. This is pretty crude stuff.
MS MacDONALD (Brindabella) (10.52): I will be brief. I just want to address the couple of points that Dr Foskey raised about the issue being an important issue. The government is not denying that the issue of the provision of childcare is an important issue. We agree that it is an important issue and we wanted to go on and talk about it yesterday in private members’ day.
On any given private members’ day, as anybody who is a member of the admin and procedures committee will know, there are things that will drop off the paper. It has happened to me, it has happened to Mr Gentleman, it has happened to Ms Porter, it has happened to Dr Foskey before and it has happened to all members of the opposition, so it is just a nonsense to say that one particular issue is more important than another on private members’ day and that we must bring it on for government business day.
Unfortunately, that is the nature of this place. We do have competing interests and we have a limited time on private members’ day in which to deal with these things. I am sorry that we did not get to deal with it yesterday, and I am sorry that Dr Foskey did not
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