Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I am not responding to these questions because they are not about matters of administration that I have responsibility for—and that is consistent with what I indicated earlier this year—but I will make some observations. I will not be reviewing the tape. Having said that, I am not saying that I do not have sufficient pride in my conduct in the chair not to review my actions. I admit that from time to time I am on a learning curve and I have to learn from any mistakes or any confusions that have arisen from things that I have said or rulings that I have made. At the end of the day, to put it bluntly, the action taken on the member for Kalgoorlie was for straight-up-and-down defiance of the chair. Whether people want to make critiques about that, I have to suffer the consequences. As I said, I will not be looking at the tapes, but I can assure you that from time to time I do review my actions. Sincerely, I do not wish to cause any confusion. But I just add that, for the last 50 minutes since that incident, my life in the chair has been much more tranquil and I thank the House for its cooperation.

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