Page 639 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
doing so, they will be endorsing the way that he has shown such disdain for the Tuggeranong community, the Tuggeranong Community Council and other Canberrans that he has slurred in that way through the use of such language—people such as Val Jeffery, whom he singled out in his rant.
This motion should be supported. It should be unamended. It should not be in any way watered down to try and pretend what is going on here. Those who vote to amend this motion, to take away the sanction, to take away the moves by Mr Smyth to hold Mr Hargreaves to account, will have to answer to the Tuggeranong community as to why, through their vote today, they are endorsing Mr Hargreaves’s behaviour and his rant against the Tuggeranong Community Council and members of our community.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Community Services, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Women and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (3.43): I seek leave to make a brief statement under standing order 47.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): Certainly.
MS BURCH: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. Just to be very clear, at the end of my speech—
Mr Seselja: Madam Assistant Speaker, on a point of order, I seek your ruling.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr Seselja: It is not the purpose of standing order 47 to be able to engage in extra debate during a debate.
MS BURCH: I am clarifying some language, Mr Seselja.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Ms Burch, one moment.
Mr Seselja: If you are going to clarify language, it is ordinarily done at the end of a debate. It is not done during a debate. It is not an excuse for Ms Burch to speak again.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you. There is no point of order. Ms Burch, please explain your words very concisely.
MS BURCH: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. Can I just reiterate that towards the end I commended the amendment and I condemned the double standards of the Canberra Liberals.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (3.44): I rise briefly to reflect on the way Mr Seselja has decided to twist this debate around to suit his own purposes. He has attempted to construct a situation where he has twisted Ms Bresnan’s comments to somehow be an endorsement of Mr Hargreaves’s comments in the chamber last week. He is attempting to create that construct, because it suits his own purposes, when it is patently not the case. Anybody who reads Hansard will be clear about what
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video