Page 1710 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 18 May 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR BERRY: Were you having a good sleep, Dennis, after lunch? I am sorry. The matter was discussed with you, and you had plenty of time to talk about it. You came down here and looked at both motions. One assumes that if you had had a problem you would have come and talked to me. So there was not a problem with Mr Stevenson. The Liberals are going to support it. There is no sign of this amendment. Then we get the tirade, a personal attack, which we have grown to expect from the Liberals on all fronts - the lot of you, personally attacking members on this side of the chamber. I am big enough and tough enough to cop that, but you people have to be shown up for what you are - a spiteful little bunch, with the emphasis on the little.
I will go back to Mr Kaine for a moment. He went on about this not being the proper process for sorting out changes to the standing orders. (Extension of time granted) Who was it who moved the amendment to standing order 118A? This is the amendment that talks about when a Minister does not answer a question on notice. Who was it who moved that? Who was it who moved that from the floor, or did it just materialise? I think it was a Liberal who did this, Madam Speaker. Either Mr Kaine did not notice or Mr Humphries was not talking to him that day either. It is all right to take on these sorts of jobs, but nobody in this place would ever be able to judge the meat of you lot from day to day.
You can always guarantee that, every time you climb to your feet to talk about me and other Labor members in this place, your speeches and your language will be peppered with spite and vitriol. There is no question about it. You deserve a little bit yourselves, because of the way you behave. You, Mr Humphries, have shown how difficult you are to deal with, after today's little effort. Your little effort today demonstrated how difficult you are to deal with and how someone managing Government business will have to talk to more than one of you and have a witness all the time.
I have complained about this before. You walked away from me today clearly indicating that you were going to support this motion. There was no need for this vitriol. I have to say that this will take the cake as the biggest bit of overkill that has ever hit this Assembly. I described it wrongly as an uncontroversial issue. I had better not say "wrongly" and I had better apologise to the Assembly, otherwise I might well be censured or even have a motion of no confidence moved against me for recklessly or deliberately misleading the Assembly. It has become controversial. I did not know that it was going to be controversial at the time, but now that I do I could be the subject of some attack by you lot.
Madam Speaker, this motion, I think, will pass, despite all the bluster. The Liberals have told me that they will support it. Mr Stevenson has not told me anything. Mr Moore and Ms Szuty indicated that they support the motion that has been put to the Assembly and discussed with members. It looks at this point like 16 : 1, bearing in mind the odds, with Mr Stevenson 98 per cent against. If we can hold the Liberals to their agreement to support it, we should have their votes. I do not know for how long this debate has gone on, but for an uncontroversial matter it has been a long time. It has been just another demonstration of the way you people behave and how impossible you are to deal with.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .