Page 3925 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 9 November 1994
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We accepted that situation. I gave evidence to the committee, and the committee produced a report that had a whole chapter, chapter 3, on my Bill. It is not as if anybody could suggest that the Bill has not been looked at. It has been looked at to the extent of a whole chapter. There are a number of recommendations in this chapter which I have picked up in the amendments that I have tabled today. They were circulated, at least to the Independents, yesterday. We have given reasons why the amendments that were picked up were picked up, and the - - -
Mr Moore: See how quickly Mr Kaine could have done the job.
Mr Wood: You have mucked it all up. That is the simple fact.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MRS CARNELL: The Bill was never referred, as many people have said. As the officials of this Assembly have made clear, it was never referred. It is on the notice paper. Counting today, we have three private members business mornings left before this Assembly rises. I feel that this is an important piece of legislation that needs to be debated. It has not been referred. It has been looked at already by one committee, and a whole chapter of its report has been based upon this Bill. I brought down amendments covering the issues that were recommended by that committee - the ones that I, as it is my Bill, support. I am very happy for this Assembly either to vote for or to vote against my piece of legislation, which, as I said, has been on the table since February. It has gone to one committee already and a whole chapter has been written about it. I choose - and it is my legislation - to have this Bill debated before we rise.
If Mr Berry has the right not to bring forward legislation that is on the notice paper, surely I have the right to bring forward legislation that is on the notice paper. It seems quite simple. The Assembly also has the right to vote against that legislation. That is quite simple. That is the job we do here. It does not seem to me to be difficult that those rules should apply. What I have a problem with is this Assembly continuing to tell me what I should do with my private members business. Vote against it if you do not like it.
Mr Berry: No; it is before a committee.
Mr Moore: It is not the system, Kate. There is a whole range of things that we can do with your Bill once you bring it on.
MRS CARNELL: Obviously, there are different rules for different sides. As Mr De Domenico has already said, the fact of the matter is that this Bill has not been referred to the Select Committee on the Public Sector. It still has not been referred. On that basis, it is on the notice paper, as everyone has been able to see for quite a period of time now. It is not as though it has been a secret. The notice paper is not secret. It is on the notice paper. On that basis I sought, via our Whip, to bring it forward for debate this morning. The Administration and Procedures Committee voted and allowed me to bring it forward. Now this Assembly appears to be saying, unlike the Administration and Procedures Committee, that we cannot debate the Bill.
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