Page 765 - Week 02 - Thursday, 10 March 2011
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people who occupy the chair.
The thing is, Mr Speaker, that you have brought it to a head today. If you applied standing order 39 when Mr Doszpot spoke and said something that, sitting five feet away from him, I could not hear, it shows that you were just looking for an opportunity to warn someone. You referred back to an incident in the morning when he was asked to withdraw words. Yes, he was asked to withdraw words this morning, and you referred back to that and said, “I spoke to you this morning. I am now warning you.”
When you warned him, he was speaking in a quiet way. This is the problem. It shows that you are partisan. It shows that you are prepared to have a much higher standard of behaviour from the Liberal opposition than you yourself demonstrate when you are in the chamber debating and than you expect from Mr Stanhope, in particular, Mr Hargreaves and the other members of the government.
It is an unfortunate situation but it is not our doing. It is not our doing. We are here today unfortunately debating your ruling and your behaviour. It is an unfortunate situation when we get to the situation where we do have to move dissent from your ruling. Unfortunately, it is a motion of want of confidence in you as the Speaker. If this motion succeeds, there is only one course of action for you, and that is why this is not done lightly.
This is a terrible situation to come about and you have brought it about yourself. Your partisan approach to the Liberal opposition has brought us to this place; nothing else. If this was about the cut and thrust of what goes on in the chamber, we would not be here. If there was equal treatment for the opposition and the government, we would not be in this situation here today. If you came down as hard on the Chief Minister, who is a serial flouter of the standing orders on a whole range of matters, large and small, as you have been on Mr Doszpot here today—
Mr Stanhope: Point of order, Mr Speaker. It is unparliamentary to allege that I behave in that way. There is no motion actually in relation to me and it is completely unparliamentary. Serial flouter of the standing orders—goodness me!
MR SPEAKER: I think it is not a point of order. Mrs Dunne, you have the floor to continue.
MRS DUNNE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. In comparison to the behaviour that Mr Doszpot demonstrated here today, the Chief Minister, as an example, has much worse behaviour every sitting day; and he demonstrated much worse behaviour during question time today, and you did nothing about it. Until you learn to treat each side equally—
Mr Stanhope interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Chief Minister, do not make it difficult.
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