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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (26 March) . . Page.. 669 ..
MR SPEAKER: Members, on Thursday, 22 February 1996, Ms McRae raised a point of order concerning an answer given to a question on notice she had asked of Mr De Domenico. Ms McRae considered that the Assembly had been treated with contempt because, in his answer, Mr De Domenico had said:
Any further enquiries need to be lodged with Ferrier Hodgson, the official provisional liquidator.
Ms McRae asked me to follow up the matter and perhaps issue instructions to all people who provide answers to our Ministers.
I would draw members' attention to page 530 of the second edition of House of Representatives Practice, where it is stated:
... an answer to a question seeking information about various matters both within and outside a Minister's responsibility is considered fully answered if an answer is supplied to those parts within the Minister's administrative responsibility.
It could be argued that the question did not relate to any of the Minister's responsibilities because it related to a private sector body. However, as the Minister - that is, Mr De Domenico - sought to provide some assistance to Ms McRae and did not fail to provide information that was within his ministerial responsibilities, I rule that there is no point of order.
Motion (by Mr Humphries) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
MS FOLLETT (5.09): I would like to draw attention, very briefly, in this adjournment debate to a matter which has caused me great concern. I refer to the decision of the new Prime Minister, Mr Howard, to make his official Prime Ministerial residence in Sydney, in Kirribilli House, rather than at the Lodge here in Canberra. I regard this as a matter of grave concern for all Canberrans, and I take it up, in particular, as a member for Molonglo who was actually quite looking forward to having the Howard family as my constituents, as had been the Keating family and the Hawke family before them.
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