Page 817 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 1990
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Mr Kaine: You mean as a member of the Opposition.
MR MOORE: As a member of the crossbenches, if you like, I find the issue that is of most concern is the damage that has been done to the Assembly, this group of 17 people. Because of the way the debate went, the logical thing would have been for Mr Collaery to accept that he had tabled a totally irrelevant document and we could have dealt with the issue quickly and relatively quietly, without having to go into the sort of play that he used.
What is likely to happen is that this will bring the Assembly into further disrepute and that is a major problem. But even more of a problem is the difficulty that I perceive with standing order 140, which deals with the relevance of an amendment to the particular motion that it seeks to amend. I hope that we will look at that standing order and recognise the unsatisfactory way in which those people opposite have used their majority. To simply take a motion and turn it around - that is what the amendment did; it turned the motion around - is certainly contrary to the meaning of the standing order in my opinion.
Mr Jensen: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to page 554 of House of Representatives Practice, which says:
Through the application of the general rules of debate, a Member may not - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Jensen! You have drawn my attention to that page. While we are looking at the House of Representatives Practice, I also draw members' attention to half-way down page 554, which indicates that we can allude to previous debates at times, but still remain relevant.
MR MOORE: In the few seconds that I have now left - thanks to Mr Jensen's long dissertation on that matter - I would say that that particular amendment needs to be looked at, and point out that the House of Representatives Practice should only be used when we do not have something to cover an issue. That is the critical factor.
Government Business
MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (7.06): Mr Speaker, I wish to place on the record the fact that it is the wish of members of the Opposition to proceed with the business before the Assembly this evening - namely, the Clinical Waste Bill. Mr Moore assures me that I speak for the crossbenchers as well.
I think it is extremely regrettable that we find ourselves in the position here where I have been doing some work on the Bill, the public servants involved are in the chamber, my staff are in the chamber, and everybody ready to proceed
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