Page 33 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2010
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of action today. The minister could not take any reasonable course of action. His way or the highway.
The real shame of this is that, leaving aside the ACT Greens, with all due respect, two parties in this place—the opposition and the government—fundamentally agree on the basic premise of the bill that Mr Barr wants to present. We fundamentally agree on empowering principals, and we simply wish to give our ACT principals the same rights, the same decision-making capacity, that their counterparts in the independent school system and all the New South Wales schools already enjoy. But Mr Barr does not trust our principals. So, while Mr Barr is making statements publicly—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, you must address the issue of the suspension of standing orders, not the actual subject of the bill.
MR DOSZPOT: I am now debating that point, too, Madam Deputy Speaker.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, you are not debating that; you are debating the suspension of standing orders.
MR DOSZPOT: Okay. So, while Mr Barr is making—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stick to the subject of the suspension of standing orders, please.
MR DOSZPOT: Thank you. So, while Mr Barr is making statements publicly about how much he is committed to engaging the opposition and the Greens in discussions in a bipartisan approach to this serious issue, it seems very strange and quite contradictory to be wanting to jump the queue with this current request which, again, was not brought to our attention—no notice. I believe that this new Assembly has shown that it can stand up—
Ms Gallagher: On a point of order, just going back to your previous ruling, Madam Deputy Speaker, as to relevance, Mr Doszpot continues to debate the subject of the bill; not the suspension of standing orders. I ask that you bring him back to the suspension of standing orders.
MR DOSZPOT: I disagree, Madam Deputy Speaker. I said he was jumping the queue regarding notice.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, resume your seat.
Ms Gallagher: It is about whether we suspend standing orders.
MR DOSZPOT: Sure, and that is what I am talking about, too.
Mr Hanson: On the point of order about relevance, what Mr Doszpot is saying is entirely relevant; it is about the rationale for when Mr Barr is going to introduce his bill. The point that Mr Doszpot is making is that it does not need to be introduced today; it can be introduced on Thursday as it normally would be, and Mr Barr is trying to jump the queue. That is the substance of what Mr Doszpot is saying.
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