Mr TOYNE - 1997-04-22
I refer the member to her unprecedented actions on the last day of the February sittings.
Mr POOLE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Standing order 111 says quite clearly: `Questions may be put to the chairman of a committee relating to the activities of that committee, provided that: (a) unless leave of the Assembly is granted for them to be asked ...
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. In fact, the leave of the Assembly is required to ask that question.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, speaking to the point of order ...
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Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is, in fact ...
Mr BAILEY: Just a minute, Mr Speaker ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Leave must be granted. Standing order 110 must be read in conjunction with standing order 111 which says that leave of the Assembly is ...
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, standing order 110 is a separate standing order. She was not asked as chairman of the committee. Therefore ...
Mr SPEAKER: The member needs only to answer that question if she has responsibility for it, and she has responsibility as the chairman of the committee, not as the member for Braitling.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, standing order 111 says, in item (c): `The chairman shall answer such questions only on the basis that he answers on behalf of the committee and not of himself'. Quite clearly, it is standing order 110 that this question comes under. That is why the member was addressed as the member for Braitling. Standing order 110 states quite clearly: `Questions may be put to a member, not being a minister, relating to any bill, motion or other public matter connected with the business of the Assembly, of which the member has charge'. She did not do it in her role as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In fact, as a private member, she acted outside her powers in respect of her role as chairman ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will resume his seat. I have ruled on the matter and I stick by that ruling that standing order 110 must be read in conjunction with standing order 111. The question may be asked of the member only as the chairman of the committee, and it must be in writing unless leave is granted by the Assembly to put it orally. If the member wishes to seek leave to ask the question, he may.
Mr TOYNE: Mr Speaker, I seek leave.
Leave granted.
Mr TOYNE: I refer the chairman of the committee to her unprecedented actions on the last day of the February sittings. At a committee meeting held during the lunch adjournment, she told the committee that she would table the committee's dissenting report in the Assembly. By 5 pm, she had decided to hide the report from Territorians. Was she spoken to by the Chief Minister or his office and instructed to withhold the report from Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I find this question quite extraordinary. What happened in the committee meeting is the committee's business. It should not be spread across the parliament. However, the member's suggestion that I would run to the Chief Minister and ask whether or not I should do something is ridiculous. Give me a little credit. I know the member did not like what I did. However, I said quite clearly on that day that that was my decision. He knows
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why I made it. It was because the report breached standing order 274 in that it contained information ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Bailey: He is not lying here.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that implication.
Mr Bailey: I withdraw the implication.
Mr SPEAKER: You should stand to your feet to withdraw.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw - but the member should get it right.
Mrs BRAHAM: Mr Speaker, the member for Stuart is well aware of why I did that. I expressed my concern at that meeting about the tabling of that document. He knows exactly why I did so. As far as I am concerned, we need to protect witnesses who come before committees and we need to protect the operations of committees. Members opposite have shown a blatant disregard for all the standing rules associated with the workings of the Assembly's committees. As chairman, I found that unacceptable.
Mr Bailey: Read standing order 277.
Mrs BRAHAM: You refer to the standing orders but you should read them in conjunction with each other and learn which one has precedence over the other.
I did not seek advice from the Chief Minister. It is rubbish to suggest I did.
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Mr POOLE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Standing order 111 says quite clearly: `Questions may be put to the chairman of a committee relating to the activities of that committee, provided that: (a) unless leave of the Assembly is granted for them to be asked ...
Mr SPEAKER: There is a point of order. In fact, the leave of the Assembly is required to ask that question.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, speaking to the point of order ...
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Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is, in fact ...
Mr BAILEY: Just a minute, Mr Speaker ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Leave must be granted. Standing order 110 must be read in conjunction with standing order 111 which says that leave of the Assembly is ...
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, standing order 110 is a separate standing order. She was not asked as chairman of the committee. Therefore ...
Mr SPEAKER: The member needs only to answer that question if she has responsibility for it, and she has responsibility as the chairman of the committee, not as the member for Braitling.
Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, standing order 111 says, in item (c): `The chairman shall answer such questions only on the basis that he answers on behalf of the committee and not of himself'. Quite clearly, it is standing order 110 that this question comes under. That is why the member was addressed as the member for Braitling. Standing order 110 states quite clearly: `Questions may be put to a member, not being a minister, relating to any bill, motion or other public matter connected with the business of the Assembly, of which the member has charge'. She did not do it in her role as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In fact, as a private member, she acted outside her powers in respect of her role as chairman ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will resume his seat. I have ruled on the matter and I stick by that ruling that standing order 110 must be read in conjunction with standing order 111. The question may be asked of the member only as the chairman of the committee, and it must be in writing unless leave is granted by the Assembly to put it orally. If the member wishes to seek leave to ask the question, he may.
Mr TOYNE: Mr Speaker, I seek leave.
Leave granted.
Mr TOYNE: I refer the chairman of the committee to her unprecedented actions on the last day of the February sittings. At a committee meeting held during the lunch adjournment, she told the committee that she would table the committee's dissenting report in the Assembly. By 5 pm, she had decided to hide the report from Territorians. Was she spoken to by the Chief Minister or his office and instructed to withhold the report from Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I find this question quite extraordinary. What happened in the committee meeting is the committee's business. It should not be spread across the parliament. However, the member's suggestion that I would run to the Chief Minister and ask whether or not I should do something is ridiculous. Give me a little credit. I know the member did not like what I did. However, I said quite clearly on that day that that was my decision. He knows
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why I made it. It was because the report breached standing order 274 in that it contained information ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Bailey: He is not lying here.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that implication.
Mr Bailey: I withdraw the implication.
Mr SPEAKER: You should stand to your feet to withdraw.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw - but the member should get it right.
Mrs BRAHAM: Mr Speaker, the member for Stuart is well aware of why I did that. I expressed my concern at that meeting about the tabling of that document. He knows exactly why I did so. As far as I am concerned, we need to protect witnesses who come before committees and we need to protect the operations of committees. Members opposite have shown a blatant disregard for all the standing rules associated with the workings of the Assembly's committees. As chairman, I found that unacceptable.
Mr Bailey: Read standing order 277.
Mrs BRAHAM: You refer to the standing orders but you should read them in conjunction with each other and learn which one has precedence over the other.
I did not seek advice from the Chief Minister. It is rubbish to suggest I did.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016