Page 4406 - Week 14 - Thursday, 28 November 2013

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warning you, Mr Smyth, myself, because you have been ignoring me. It is very difficult for Dr Bourke to continue under those circumstances. I was just about to warn you. Dr Bourke, you may continue.

DR BOURKE: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In brief, or in essence, as Mr Hanson likes to refer to it, this motion will enable committees to come to a report where each paragraph in that report will reflect their agreed understanding of what should be in the report. In other words, they can vote on every paragraph and then decide if that paragraph is in or if it is out.

We will not have chairs bringing reports into committee and then ramming them through because they insist that a paragraph will be included in the report unless a motion to negate it, to remove it, is passed. Given the fact that we have been given an eight-eight-one Assembly by our community, by our electorate, by the people of Canberra, that is how we need to move forward to get the kind of reports that the community expects us to produce.

As the Chief Minister said, the upshot of my proposed amendment to the standing orders will be that there will be a series of paragraphs and recommendations that are agreed to and there will probably be two dissenting reports hanging underneath that. Everybody can then see, everybody can be clear about, what is agreed and what is disagreed and the basis for those disagreements. To me, in matters of contention, given the Assembly that the people of Canberra have elected, that is what our committees should be doing. I commend the motion to the Assembly.

Question put:

That the motion be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 9

Noes 8

Mr Barr

Ms Gallagher

Mr Coe

Ms Lawder

Ms Berry

Mr Gentleman

Mr Doszpot

Mr Smyth

Dr Bourke

Ms Porter

Mrs Dunne

Mr Wall

Ms Burch

Mr Rattenbury

Mr Hanson

Mr Corbell

Mrs Jones

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

It being 45 minutes after the commencement of Assembly business, the debate was interrupted in accordance with standing order 77. Ordered that the time allotted to Assembly business be extended by 30 minutes.

Standing orders—proposed amendments

Motion (by Mr Smyth) proposed:

That standing orders 247 to 252 be omitted and the following standing orders be substituted:

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