Page 3799 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2013
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MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave is not needed.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you. Sorry, Jeremy.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will call on another member.
Mr Hanson: Now I’ve got to get ready.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (11.22): I move:
That the debate be adjourned.
Question resolved in the negative.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Do we have another member who can speak?
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (11.23): I will speak to the substance of the matter. The reason I have moved that debate be adjourned—I was not expecting that to get up, as chaos ensues on the other side—is that in accordance with principle, these matters should rightly be brought forward by the appropriate minister or certainly sorted out within the cabinet process before they are brought to this place. We have a situation here where we have been receiving last-minute amendments. Mr Rattenbury has provided us with amendments to his own motion. Ms Gallagher has been providing us amendments to Mr Rattenbury’s motion. I believe Mr Rattenbury will now not be moving all of his amendments. Ms Gallagher has withdrawn a bunch of her amendments. We have this chaotic situation where we have a piece of legislation being brought forward by Mr Rattenbury that has been agreed to in the parliamentary agreement by the Labor Party and the Greens, but they are still trying to sort it out on the floor of the Assembly at late notice with nobody quite knowing who is moving what and when and what amendments are being moved and what ones are being withdrawn, and we are trying to make this up on the run.
This goes very much to my point: if the Greens-Labor coalition have something they want to bring forward, in many cases we will support it. In this case I can indicate we will support it, but let us get the process right. Let us not have the situation where we are doing these fix-ups on the run and we are trying to work it out and we have got the Labor Party moving amendments to what Mr Rattenbury is doing and ministers moving amendments to another minister’s legislation on the floor of the Assembly.
If you sign off to something in the Greens-Labor agreement, it would be better if you get it sorted out, get it through your cabinet process, bring it in here so that we can deal with the motion and, if there are amendments to be moved, that they are done in due time and done properly. This is a very good example of why the Liberal Party has so many concerns with this process where Mr Rattenbury wants to play these dual roles. It just does not work effectively or efficiently; it does not lead to good legislation or good process in this place. And I could go on.
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