Page 707 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Membership
Motion (by Mr Coe) proposed:
That Mr Hanson be discharged from the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety and Mr Doszpot be appointed in his place.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (10.14): The government will support this motion this morning, but we do so with some reservation. The reservation is not the suitability of Mr Doszpot replacing Mr Hanson on the committee; the issue of some concern to the government is where Mr Seselja is in terms of his removal, his discharge from the public accounts committee.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, sit down, please. The motion before us today is that Mr Hanson be discharged from the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety and that Mr Doszpot be appointed in his place. It would be appropriate to address your comments to Mr Hanson’s discharge and Mr Doszpot’s replacement on the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety.
MR CORBELL: I am arguing, Madam Speaker, that it should be a wider remit, and that is entirely appropriate. I may need to consider an amendment. There really is some unfinished business—dare I say a rump of unfinished business—yet to be dealt with. The issue before us is that, clearly, the Liberal Party are going through some changes in relation to their membership of committees, as is outlined in the motion this morning, and the government’s position is that this business is unfinished and that this motion should also encompass the issue of the discharge of Mr Seselja as chair of the public accounts committee. We know Mr Seselja has been successful in securing preselection to be the Liberal Party’s candidate for senator here in the ACT. Clearly the question now before the Liberal Party is when they are properly going to—
Mr Coe: Point of order.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, thank you. Mr Coe, on a point of order.
Mr Coe: Madam Speaker, you have already called him to order on relevance. I ask you to reassess Mr Corbell’s statements and whether they are, in fact, consistent with the motion I just moved.
MADAM SPEAKER: I have already drawn your attention, Mr Corbell, to the terms of the motion. It is not appropriate for you to stray onto what you or anyone else might think about the membership of another committee. I ask you to be relevant to the matter at hand.
MR CORBELL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am simply indicating that it is appropriate for me, in speaking to the motion, to canvas what other matters I believe the motion should be addressing.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video