Page 1124 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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MS GALLAGHER: It is not unusual in this place—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members! Ms Gallagher, the motion has been sent for circulation, has it?
MS GALLAGHER: It has. The amendment is just being copied, as I understand it, for circulation.
MR SPEAKER: I seek guidance from the house. Do we wish to proceed or do we wish to suspend briefly to enable the circulation of the motion?
Mr Hanson: Could you read it out?
MS GALLAGHER: The amendment? I was getting to that before Mr Smyth jumped to his feet. I was going to try to explain the amendment and the reason why the original motion was broad. It was to try and encompass the next four questions, perhaps. Maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself, but it was to encompass other emails that may be referred to that I do not have. But if we want to do this, we will go through it motion by motion. The amendment is to table all emails and documents already referred to in question time today. So that would encompass Mr Seselja’s—
Mr Seselja: Which 20 minutes ago I said I would do.
MS GALLAGHER: Mr Seselja, I asked you initially to table the document and you did not, which is why we find ourselves here. With respect to the purpose of this, and this is not something—
Mr Seselja interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, thank you.
MS GALLAGHER: that we have normally done, or indeed plan to continue to do, but what we have here is an opposition that are going to drip out and selectively quote from material to try and construct a perception—that is all it can be at the moment—that something went on in caretaker that should not have. That is a very serious allegation, and I believe information should be provided to us to have a look at that.
What we already see from what Mr Smyth has tabled is that it comes to nothing. A ministerial staffer has asked for factual advice from a department official pertaining to material in the election campaign. My quick reading of guidance on caretaker conventions already shows that there is no issue at all. The provision of information and advice to ministers refers to strictly factual analysis. It states:
Accordingly, factual material should be provided if requested … even if it might be drawn upon for use in speeches or other material for the election campaign.
So there we see Mr Smyth’s question, where he is trying to raise allegations without saying it clearly, is already put down to nothing. It is already put down to nothing.
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