Page 1709 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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MR SMYTH: Mr Seselja, apparently it has changed. “When it suits me I will slap it on the table but when it does not suit me I will not release it.” It is interesting. Like all legal advice, it is an opinion. Mr Garrison says, “In short answer, it is my opinion.” That is all it is. It is a legal opinion. It is interesting that Mr Corbell, of course, forgot to read paragraph 7.
Mr Corbell: Yes, of course it is a bloody legal opinion. What else do you think it is?
Mr Seselja: There is not one definitive legal opinion.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, Mr Corbell, stop talking across the chamber.
MR SMYTH: It reads:
I note that Mr Hanson’s notice of motion touches upon a topic which is largely unexplored in the court and in legislatures that pertains to the relationship between a member and a chamber of Parliament.
In that, the Government Solicitor is right. This is largely unexplored.
Mr Corbell: I would love to see yours.
Mr Seselja: It is a sore point for you.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, Mr Seselja, cease interjecting.
Mr Seselja: It is a sore point for you, what he is reading, isn’t it, Simon?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Seselja!
MR SMYTH: It is.
Mr Corbell: No, I think it is more of a sore point for you, actually.
MR SMYTH: Madam Assistant Speaker, perhaps we could stop the clock?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, Mr Corbell, cease interjecting.
MR SMYTH: Madam Assistant Speaker, it is interesting that all the standard lines are trotted out. There was Mr Corbell being tough on the news last night. He was not going to be bullied; he was not going to be hurried; he was not going to have any regard for what the Assembly has to say. But he is willing to leave the people of the ACT exposed to the same fears that the Premier of New South Wales is acting on, the same fears that the Premier of Queensland is acting on, the same fears that the government of South Australia enacted upon.
We hear the same old “human rights compliant” words trotted out—“It is draconian. It is tough.” It is tough because it needs to be tough. How tough does it need to be?
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