Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I wish to raise an issue. Last night Members of the House may have seen reports of comments made by Senator Hillary Clinton regarding Iran. This is an issue that Senator Mark Daly and I have raised on a number of occasions in the House. Our point is that the situation in Iran is like that of Iraq five or six years ago. We are being offered two alternatives: to go along with the disgraceful regime in Iran or to oppose it through war. Senator Clinton's statement of last night, that as President of the United States she would be prepared in certain circumstances to "obliterate" Iran, is exactly what I fear. There are other options regarding that country and the best of those is similar to what was achieved with Solidarnosc in Poland years ago by supporting the democratic opposition. There is a third way in Iran. This country must speak out and so must Europe. We are heading down the same road as we did in Iraq. I am very disappointed that Senator Clinton has chosen those words and I hope she corrects them along the way. When she was asked a question on the subject she confirmed that she would do as she had said.

In an attempt to be helpful to my esteemed colleague, Senator Norris, I have circulated Members of the House with two pages from the Lisbon treaty which we can discuss later. It is an attempt to show people that the treaty can be easily read. The pages are taken at random but for the information of the House, and to correct any misunderstanding, Article 113 states that the Council shall act unanimously, with regard to the harmonisation of legislation on taxation. The phrase is "acting unanimously". The English language is the English language. There are not two interpretations of those words which are very clear. The other page was taken at random. I tried both pages out on a sixth-class child last night——