Page 3678 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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MR STEVENSON: Withdraw what, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker?
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw the reflection you made on the Chair.
MR STEVENSON: Which was that?
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, I asked you to withdraw, and that is all I am asking you to do.
MR STEVENSON: I do not see that I made a reflection on the Chair.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: A point of order was made. I believe that you did make a reflection on the Chair, and I would ask you to withdraw it.
Mr Kaine: On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker: If you are going to ask the member to withdraw something, you have to be specific about what it is that you want him to withdraw. You cannot harangue him from the chair, with all due respect.
Ms Follett: On the point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker: The comment which I asked to be withdrawn was the comment made by Mr Stevenson that the Chair had not acted fairly. It must be withdrawn.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: I agree with you, and I would agree with anybody in the house who made that point of order. You do not reflect on the Chair. Would you withdraw it, Mr Stevenson.
MR STEVENSON: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, if the regulations of this Assembly require that I withdraw the statement, I withdraw; regardless of whether or not it is true. That is the unfortunate thing.
Ms Follett: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, that is a qualified withdrawal, which is not acceptable.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: You cannot withdraw in that way, Mr Stevenson. You know very well the rules of this house. I do not have to tell them to you. I would ask you to withdraw it unqualifiedly.
MR STEVENSON: I withdraw. I have made the point.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
MR STEVENSON: If you look at a dictionary, in the definition of "bed", you find that it is a sleeping place. I am not sure what the definition of "bed" is in the ACT, as regards hospitals. If it is not a sleeping place, if it is not a place where you stay over, is it something that looks like a bed? If it is not something that looks like a bed, is it a seat? Someone could say, "It is silly to say that it is a seat". If you can have a treatment in a seat, why is it silly to say that it is a bed?
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