Page 319 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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MR SESELJA: I will clarify, Mr Speaker, if I could.
Mr Corbell: I think Mr Seselja should withdraw that. It is not appropriate and it is disorderly.
MR SESELJA: I will clarify, if I could, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes.
MR SESELJA: It is not a reflection on the ruling of the chair. Indeed, I believe the chair had little choice given the nature of the new standing orders and the way they are framed. So there was nothing against Mr Berry, the former Speaker; I believe it is something we need to look at in the form of standing orders in order to endorse these principles properly.
That is something that we do need to look at. If we are serious about these principles, if we are serious about the independence of parliament, if we are serious about freedom of speech in particular—and freedom of speech should be at its greatest in this place—then we should not be restricting members in that way. I do not think in the way that it is currently drafted that the chair of this Assembly, the Speaker of this Assembly, has much scope for determining that, but I think that is something we need to look at urgently when we review the standing orders, in order to really make this work.
Another key principle that is talked about in Latimer is having women in parliament. We have a very good record here in the ACT, one of which we can be proud. There are seven women members at the moment; we have had two female chief ministers and a female Speaker. That is a record we can be proud of. We can certainly build on that, if we look right here at the ACT. In fact, the Latimer principles go further and talk about political party structures and having women in key positions. Certainly, we in the Liberal Party in the ACT, with a female president currently, honour that. We do not do that through affirmative action here. They do that in some Liberal divisions, I understand, in Victoria. I think it has been the case since the 1940s. But we believe very much in that principle. In the part of Latimer that refers to this, it says:
To improve the numbers of women members in Commonwealth parliaments, the role of women within political parties should be enhanced, including the appointment of more women to executive roles within political parties.
That is one that we wholeheartedly approve of. Judicial and parliamentary ethics: we note and approve the appointment of an ethics adviser in the Assembly. With respect to parliamentary ethics, the guidelines state:
(a) Conflict of interest guidelines and Codes of Conduct should require full disclosure by ministers and members of their financial and business interests;
(b) members of parliament should have privileged access to advice from statutorily established Ethics Advisors;
(c) whilst responsive to the needs of society and recognising minority views in society, members of parliament should avoid excessive influence of lobbyists and special interest groups.
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