Page 3177 - Week 15 - Thursday, 14 December 1989

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the true facts, and I would now wish to place on record the circumstances. On 1 December, Mr Collaery wrote to me and raised this issue. He said:

I should be quite happy to debate the casino issue on - - -

Mr Collaery: You wrote to me.

MR WHALAN: Yes, but then you responded, remember?

Mr Collaery: Well, say that.

MR WHALAN: Sorry. I wrote to Mr Collaery and challenged him to debate the casino.

Mr Collaery: Are you going to table the correspondence?

MR WHALAN: Yes.

Mr Collaery: Good, and the white feather.

MR WHALAN: You are in possession of the white feather, Bernard.

The first letter was when I wrote to Mr Collaery challenging him to debate the casino issue and he declined that invitation. Then in his letter to me of 1 December he said:

I should be quite happy to debate the casino issue on December 5th and I fully expect that at that time, you will be able to explain the report in today's Canberra Times indicating that you had spoken -

and he then quoted the Canberra Times -

with one of the people involved in the tendering for the casino.

I responded the same day to that letter to Mr Collaery. I seek leave to table that letter.

Leave granted.

MR WHALAN: The first one I do not seem to have here, but I will be quite happy to make it available after question time this afternoon. I will bring my first letter to Mr Collaery back after lunch, after the MPI. I wrote back that same day to Mr Collaery, and I said:

Dear Mr Collaery

Thank you for your letter concerning the coalition policy on the casino.

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