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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (18 April) . . Page.. 1059 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning): Mr Speaker, under standing order 46, I claim to have been misrepresented during a debate earlier today.

MR SPEAKER: Proceed.

MR HUMPHRIES: I think I heard Ms Follett, during the debate on the Government response in relation to voluntary school contributions, claim that the Government had brought down its response to the Stein inquiry during an adjournment debate in the Assembly. I have checked the minutes of the Assembly. In fact, that is not the case. It was brought down in the afternoon, during the presentation of papers. This is the usual time. The Government does try to achieve that kind of goal anyway. That was a very major paper, of course. As it was such a major paper, I made available a copy of the paper to Ms McRae at lunchtime that same day in order that there be some advance warning of it. I do reject the suggestion that the Government, in this case, brought down a major response during the adjournment debate.

MR MOORE (11.52): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion with regard to Report No. 11 of the Public Accounts Committee and the Government response to it.

Leave granted.

MR MOORE: Thank you, members. I move:

That the Government response to Report No. 11 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts "Voluntary Parent Contribution Scheme" be rejected by this Assembly and the Minister for Education be required to report back to this Assembly with a revised response to the Report No. 11 by 20 June 1996.

This is an unusual move. I think it is the first time that it has happened in this Assembly.

Mr Osborne: When has that ever stopped you?

MR MOORE: Mr Osborne interjects, "When has that ever stopped you?". I think the point that raises is that there are certain issues that become very important and the Assembly will look for ways to deal with them. The reason, though, I think, that this arises as a first is that it is a response to a first. I am not aware, in my memory, of a committee's report being dealt with in such a perfunctory way, particularly on such an important issue, in this Assembly.

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