Page 448 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 2010
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Mr Hanson: Mr Speaker, on the point of order, Mr Corbell admitted this morning that he had misled the Assembly. I was just highlighting that point.
Mr Corbell: A point of order, Mr Speaker. I made no such admission. I corrected information that I had provided in good faith in question time during the last Thursday sitting. I did not say that I had misled the Assembly. I made no such admission and the opposition should be asked to withdraw because I explicitly said no such thing.
MR SESELJA: Mr Speaker, on the point of order—and he is touchy on this point—he has come into this place this morning and corrected the record for incorrect information given to the Assembly. He can call it what he likes but, when you give incorrect information in the Assembly, it is misleading. He has acknowledged that he gave incorrect information and, if he tries to refer to it as something else, it does not stop the fact that it is misleading. And he has acknowledged that he has given incorrect information. It misled. There is no doubt about that.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you.
MR SESELJA: He is very touchy. We might want to get back to the debate and end the frivolous points of order.
Mr Corbell: A point of order—
MR SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, just before you go on, I will come back to you in a moment if you wish. I did not hear what Mr Hanson said; so I am not going to be able to rule on this anyway. I am prepared to go back and review the tapes, but I was actually listening to the other points of order; so I am not going to be able to adjudicate on what Mr Hanson said. So in that case, there will be no point of order. But Mr Hargreaves, if you want, I am happy to go back and check the tapes.
Mr Hargreaves: On your point there, Mr Speaker: I would like you to go back and check the Hansard. You can please take advice from the Clerk. The issue really that I was trying to draw to your attention was that Mr Corbell had in fact corrected the record; he had not misled the chamber. And the accusation, which was across the chamber, in interjection, was that he had.
The point that I am making, Mr Speaker, when you make your ruling, please, is that there is the issue of whether semantics can be employed in this place. And I would argue the case to you, Mr Speaker, that semantics have no place when you are talking about something as serious as misleading this place. We are discussing the possibility of a privileges committee on such an issue. That is how serious this place has it. So having something frivolously dismissed as semantics is not acceptable and it is not acceptable to me on behalf of the minister.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Hargreaves. I will come back to the Assembly on this matter. Mr Seselja, you are continuing to speak to Ms Bresnan’s amendment.
MR SESELJA: Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is worth looking at the statements that have been made—and some of them have been referred to already—by Mr Sullivan.
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