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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 1341 ..


Mr Corbell: On the point of order, Mr Speaker: There is no point of order. Mr Moore is simply trying to draw a link between the actions of Mr Osborne in bringing forward the Bill and the consequences of that. In that respect he is entirely in order.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold Mr Kaine's point of order. I draw Mr Moore's attention to it.

MR MOORE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I shall take care to explain why it is that I wish to suspend standing orders. I wish to suspend standing orders in order to explain to members why it is critical that this debate have widespread community input; why it is that this legislation be understood not to give women more choices, as Mr Osborne suggested, or to give them more opportunity to understand what their choices are about. I seek to suspend standing orders so that I can explain to members why it is that we have to have a very broad public debate. This legislation will restrict abortions to women who have grave medical or grave psychiatric reasons, supported by two medical practitioners. I also want to explain to members the restrictions that this Bill will put on the current abortion clinic in the ACT. Mr Speaker, I want to suspend standing orders to explain the divisive nature of this piece of legislation and how it fundamentally attacks women.

A final point I want to make about suspending standing orders is that I want to highlight something that, I think, Mr Stanhope raised - that this is an issue brought by a male to an incredibly male-dominated Assembly which so fundamentally attacks individual women and their choice about the way they deal with their own bodies.

Question put:

That the motion (Mr Moore's) be agreed to.

The Assembly voted -

AYES, 8	 	NOES, 9

Mr Berry	Ms Carnell
Mr Corbell	Mr Cornwell
Mr Hargreaves	Mr Hird
Mr Moore	Mr Humphries
Mr Quinlan	Mr Kaine
Mr Stanhope	Mr Osborne
Ms Tucker	Mr Rugendyke
Mr Wood		Mr Smyth
		Mr Stefaniak
Question so resolved in the negative.


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