Page 4167 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 21 September 2011
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electronic lapse but for systematic and repeated breaches of the Children and Young People Act. Let us put this in perspective.
That is why we are here today calling for this much welcomed report to be brought to you, Mr Speaker—to us in this place. The Public Advocate is a serious and important independent statutory office holder, and it is appropriate that she report to us because we have a supervisory role in this Assembly over the executive and over the apparent maladministration.
The minister hedges. She has admitted that there has been maladministration. She has admitted that she has been concerned. She has also admitted that she took at least six weeks to do anything about it. That is why the Public Advocate should be reporting to us. I do not want the minister to take six weeks to put out her version of the report after the Public Advocate reports.
This is an important issue. I have had conversations with the Public Advocate. I ran my original motion past her to see whether she had any problems with it and whether it in any way impinged upon her powers. She assured me that it did not. I think that this is a good way forward. I welcome Ms Hunter’s positive contribution to this matter and I welcome her amendment, but I propose a further amendment which will just make it a little clearer.
Mrs Dunne’s amendment to Ms Hunter’s proposed amendment agreed to.
Ms Hunter’s amendment, as amended, agreed to.
MR SPEAKER: The question now is that the motion, as amended, be agreed to.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (12.25): Just briefly, Mr Speaker, I thank members for their approach to this very serious matter and I thank the members for this very good outcome. It is appropriate that the Legislative Assembly continue to take a very active interest in this issue. We have been in this space before; I hope that this does not turn out to be a repeat of the events that we saw just a short seven years ago when we ended up with the Vardon report. I hope that we get a satisfactory outcome from this. I look forward to the Public Advocate’s report and I look forward to a real contribution and real interest by the members of the Legislative Assembly in this very important matter.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Sitting suspended from 12.27 to 2 pm.
Unparliamentary language
Statement by Speaker
MR SPEAKER: Yesterday, Mr Hargreaves took a point of order concerning remarks made by Mrs Dunne towards Ms Burch. As I did not directly hear the remark, I have reviewed the relevant Hansard. In an interjection Mrs Dunne is heard to state, “You broke the law.” Standing orders require that members should not use offensive words
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