Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .
Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2654 ..
MRS CROSS
(continuing):before a committee and decide not to give information. Perhaps the minister could have handled it better. Perhaps the minister could have come before the committee and said, "You know what, I've been to the clerk, I got advice."You can laugh, that's fine. That's how you treat this whole thing.
Mr Hargreaves
: No, I am laughing at something else, Mrs Cross-something which is far more important than this.MRS CROSS
: That is okay. It is just indicative of how many of you on this side treat this process, and this is one of the reasons why I have a concern about the way the process was handled. That is fine.Ms MacDonald
: I'm sorry but I object to that. The implication is that all the people on this side are tarred with the one brush. I ask Mrs Cross to withdraw that comment.MRS CROSS
: That is not what I said, Mr Speaker. That is the interpretation of the member and it is incorrect.MR SPEAKER
: Well, it is late-MRS CROSS
: Mr Speaker, I have a high regard for some of the members on this side, and you are one of them. Ms MacDonald is trying to impugn my character, inferring that I have impugned the character of others on this side, and I reject that completely.MR SPEAKER
: Mrs Cross, are you finished?MRS CROSS
: No. I appreciate your patience, Mr Speaker. I know that you have been through a lot today.MR SPEAKER
: I have got lots left, too.MRS CROSS
: Thank you. Mr Speaker, I come back to a process that we should, as elected members, take seriously in this Assembly. I think some of us have been here so long that we sit through Assembly days reading novels. And even when it is highlighted to us that we are reading novels, we continue to do so because we think, "So what. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm going to continue to do what I want to do."That to me smacks of-Mr Quinlan
: Some of us don't come down for a vote.MRS CROSS
: Thank you, Mr Quinlan. I think it is important that we show respect. Some of us have more work to do than others.Mr Speaker, my concern is to do with process, my concern is to do with showing respect for the committee process in this Assembly, and asking or seeking advice from a clerk does not give any member, including members of the executive, who should be setting an example to the newer members in this place, the right to deny information to a committee. Thank you.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .