Page 1712 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 18 May 1994
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MR HUMPHRIES: And I did. I put this matter on the table. I discussed it this morning with my colleagues in the party room, and everybody who was there knows that it was discussed. I am sure that my colleagues still have the copies of the motion that I circulated at the meeting. That is a fact.
Secondly, Madam Speaker, I did indicate to Mr Berry, at several points between when he first gave me this motion and today, that we would have to think about the motion and consider it.
Mr Berry: Yes.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes? Fine. I came back to him this afternoon and discussed this. We also discussed another matter, which I will not refer to. I received an undertaking from Mr Berry, and I undertook not to discuss that matter in public in this place on the basis that I received that undertaking. I have kept my word and so have all my colleagues in the course of this debate.
Mr Berry: That is a surprise.
MR HUMPHRIES: You can make your cheap remarks, Mr Berry, but I think you will be shown to be the person with less integrity in this matter than I have.
The third matter, Madam Speaker, is this: I came to Mr Berry and said, "As originally drafted, your motion does not achieve the purpose for which you have put it on the table. What your motion does is allow Ministers and the Speaker and the Manager of Government Business to make a statement without leave during the presentation of papers period in the afternoon and only during that period. That is not your intention, is it? The Minister and the Speaker want to be able to present papers at any time during the day when there might be a debate going on". You agreed that that was what you intended, and you went away to amend it. That was the point I was making when I brought that matter to your attention. I was not saying, by any stretch of the imagination, that I was happy with your wording of paragraph (5) or any other paragraph.
I indicated finally to Mr Berry, in discussing this matter, that the Opposition would not be opposing this motion. They were the words I used to Mr Berry, and that is the position the Opposition takes here today on this matter. If you say otherwise, you are a liar. You do not have the guts to take a point of order, do you?
MADAM SPEAKER: I am about to. I take it that you said "if" and so - - -
MR HUMPHRIES: That is right, Madam Speaker; I did.
MADAM SPEAKER: Underline the big "if", then. Have you nearly finished, Mr Humphries?
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, almost, Madam Speaker. I indicated to Mr Berry that the position of the Opposition would be that we would be making a bit of a fuss about the fact that he was getting extra staffing. I said that to him. I said that to him very clearly.
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