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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3698 ..


Mr Humphries: You are only chasing votes.

MS TUCKER: Mr Humphries is saying that I am chasing votes. You are so far from the truth of the motivation for this motion. If I could see a real commitment from this Government to address these issues in other than a political and ad hoc way, I would be delighted.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: You have accepted my point of order twice in relation to interjections. You have warned Mrs Carnell pursuant to standing order 202(e). On both occasions you have upheld my point of order. Would you uphold my point of order in respect of Mr Humphries and name him?

MR SPEAKER: No, I will not. I would remind all members that, particularly when they are on their feet, they should not provoke other members by making comments attacking them, which is exactly what Ms Tucker did.

Mr Berry: I rise, Mr Speaker, to raise a point of order again. I do not think the standing orders say much about members saying controversial things in their speeches in this place which might upset members of the Government, therefore drawing from them an interjection. Mr Speaker, the standing orders are quite clear. If members offend against the standing orders you should call them to order. If they continually do it, as they are doing now, Mr Speaker, your role is to name them. Our role is to deal with them.

MR SPEAKER: I thank you, Mr Berry. I repeat, however, and I would ask for members' cooperation: Please do not provoke other members when you are on your feet speaking.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care) (11.00): Mr Speaker, it is extremely hard to know how to actually respond to this, because it is the most unusual no-confidence motion that, certainly in my time in this Assembly, we have seen. We have always taken no-confidence motions very seriously and they have been put forward only on the basis of misleading the Assembly, to my knowledge. Mr Humphries, is that the truth? I certainly cannot remember another circumstance.

Ms Tucker, last night, in her press release, suggested that she had evidence to present today that I had actually misled the Assembly. To actually quote her press release, she said, "I believe she has misled the Assembly". We have just heard a speech, with two extensions, which made not one mention of misleading the Assembly - except at the end when she requoted her press release that she thought I had misled the Assembly. She proceeded not to give any evidence or not even attempt to give any evidence, and did not even mention the issue of misleading the Assembly. She started her speech by saying that she really has no evidence to justify the motion. She said, I think, "Put down your pencils if you think you are going to record the areas where Mrs Carnell has somehow - - -


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