Ms MARTIN - 1995-08-23
As a woman, is it all right for me to wear jeans in this Chamber because, as the Chief Minister said in the adjournment debate last night, I would look good in them?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the reference was actually to a denim skirt, if the member had been listening. It was not to jeans, and it was made by way of interjection. If that is the best question that the opposition can lead with on the second last sitting day in the second week of these sittings, then I am really left to wonder.
However, I am glad that the member for Fannie Bay got to her feet because I was thinking of her last week, at 11 pm, while I was on the phone ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: ... for an hour sorting out a problem for one of her constituents. This is the new member for Fannie Bay, who is accessible to all ...
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Will you require the Chief Minister to answer the question rather than digressing to other subjects which he can raise at any other ...
Mr Stone: You do not want to hear this story.
Mr EDE: It is not relevant to Question Time.
Mr Stone: It is Question Time. It is not a debate.
Mr EDE: You would do better to have one of your backbenchers ask you a dorothy dixer about it.
Mr Stone: What is your point of order?
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The Chief Minister should confine his answer to the question asked of him.
Mr STONE: Mr Speaker, I am coming to the answer and I seek your indulgence to finish ...
Mr Ede: No.
Mrs Hickey: No.
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Mr STONE: You do not want it told, do you?
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The highly accessible member for Fannie Bay! She is not even in the telephone book! This is the great accessibility that she walked around telling everybody she offered. No one can locate her. Every minister, including the Chief Minister, can be contacted.
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Have you any intention of enforcing your ruling on the last point of order that I raised or is the Chief Minister to be allowed to continue in this vein?
Mr SPEAKER: The Chief Minister is digressing from the subject of the question. However, in the past, the Chair has been lenient with both sides of the House when members are responding in debate on bills or at any other time. In this instance, I ask that the Chief Minister confine his answer to the question.
Mr STONE: The simple answer to the question is that I did not actually say that the member for Fannie Bay would `look good' in jeans. It is a matter for you, Sir, as the Speaker, to determine the standard of dress that is appropriate. However, as a member of this Assembly, my view is that she should not wear jeans in this Chamber.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the reference was actually to a denim skirt, if the member had been listening. It was not to jeans, and it was made by way of interjection. If that is the best question that the opposition can lead with on the second last sitting day in the second week of these sittings, then I am really left to wonder.
However, I am glad that the member for Fannie Bay got to her feet because I was thinking of her last week, at 11 pm, while I was on the phone ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: ... for an hour sorting out a problem for one of her constituents. This is the new member for Fannie Bay, who is accessible to all ...
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Will you require the Chief Minister to answer the question rather than digressing to other subjects which he can raise at any other ...
Mr Stone: You do not want to hear this story.
Mr EDE: It is not relevant to Question Time.
Mr Stone: It is Question Time. It is not a debate.
Mr EDE: You would do better to have one of your backbenchers ask you a dorothy dixer about it.
Mr Stone: What is your point of order?
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The Chief Minister should confine his answer to the question asked of him.
Mr STONE: Mr Speaker, I am coming to the answer and I seek your indulgence to finish ...
Mr Ede: No.
Mrs Hickey: No.
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Mr STONE: You do not want it told, do you?
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: The highly accessible member for Fannie Bay! She is not even in the telephone book! This is the great accessibility that she walked around telling everybody she offered. No one can locate her. Every minister, including the Chief Minister, can be contacted.
Mr EDE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Have you any intention of enforcing your ruling on the last point of order that I raised or is the Chief Minister to be allowed to continue in this vein?
Mr SPEAKER: The Chief Minister is digressing from the subject of the question. However, in the past, the Chair has been lenient with both sides of the House when members are responding in debate on bills or at any other time. In this instance, I ask that the Chief Minister confine his answer to the question.
Mr STONE: The simple answer to the question is that I did not actually say that the member for Fannie Bay would `look good' in jeans. It is a matter for you, Sir, as the Speaker, to determine the standard of dress that is appropriate. However, as a member of this Assembly, my view is that she should not wear jeans in this Chamber.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016