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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 2385 ..

MR BERRY: No; for good reason, the matter could not be brought on. But to wipe out question time today over something this Minister has nothing to be fearful about is just a joke. Mr Humphries, you could relax there until the end of question time. By the sound of it, you have nothing to worry about; you have nothing to be fearful of, except a censure motion. We know that you take no notice of censure motions; so, why worry? Let us have question time and then we will get onto the motion of no confidence.

MR MOORE (2.34): Mr Speaker, I find this a most extraordinary situation. I recall that when Mr Berry was facing a no-confidence motion he asked other members of the Assembly to have it brought on directly. Indeed, the other members of the Assembly agreed, because he was the one that was facing the no-confidence motion. Mr Humphries is now facing a no-confidence motion and Mr Berry does not have the good grace to allow that to be brought on; and it is going to have to be forced on him. Mr Berry's reason for this is, "Do not worry, Gary; the no-confidence motion is not going to be carried anyway". That is a very interesting comment to make. I have certainly not stated my position on this issue; nor has Mr Osborne stated his position.

Mr Berry: In that case, I yield; and I think you can have - - -

MR SPEAKER: Sit down, Mr Berry. Mr Moore is speaking.

MR MOORE: If Labor were confident that their arguments were good, solid and substantive, then, of course, they would know that this motion would be carried. Mr Speaker, it is quite clear that, in the interests of equity, when a Minister is under the cloud of a no-confidence motion it should be dealt with at the earliest opportunity. We are all agreed that this morning was an inappropriate time. This is the earliest opportunity and it ought to be brought on immediately, in the same way as it was brought on for Mr Berry. I am afraid that this bodes very ill as the start of Mr Berry's leadership of the Opposition.

MR KAINE (Minister for Urban Services) (2.36): Mr Speaker, I totally endorse Mr Moore's comments on this matter. It seems that the Leader of the Opposition for today has a double standard. When he was under the threat of a motion of no confidence he felt that it was such an important matter that it should be dealt with ahead of all other business on the Assembly's agenda; and he was right. It is all very well now to try to write down motions of no confidence and say that they have no value. A motion of no confidence in a Minister is a very serious matter. The Leader of the Opposition seemed to think that it was a very important matter when he was on the receiving end. Today it is trivial; it does not matter. Well, there is a principle here, Mr Speaker. A motion of no confidence in a Minister is a serious matter. It was considered to be serious when it was the turn of the present Leader of the Opposition, and it is no less serious today. The justification for suspending all other business of the Assembly to allow Mr Humphries to deal with the motion of no confidence is just as important now as it was in the past. For Mr Berry to argue that somehow or other today is different, and the fact that it is not he that is on the receiving end of this motion makes it somehow less significant, is something that should not fool anybody in this place. I believe that Mr Humphries's motion is reasonable. I simply cannot understand why any member of this Assembly would do other than support it.

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