Page 747 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 1990
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MR SPEAKER: Thank you, do not make a speech, Mr Berry. Please sit down before you dig a hole for yourself. Mr Kaine, and members of the Government, would you please allow Ms Follett to continue and be heard.
MS FOLLETT: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am not surprised they are a bit embarrassed about this. It is embarrassing. Quite clearly at this point the members opposite, and Mr Collaery not the least of them, were losing the battle of words. In a desperate effort to turn the tide, Mr Collaery subsequently sought to deliberately and wilfully mislead this Assembly. I would refer you to the Hansard of 20 March, which we have available to us. If you have a look at the bottom of page 13 of that version you will see that Mr Collaery solicited - and he quite freely admits it - a dorothy dix question from Ms Maher. Her question was:
With regard to the rumour concerning the Northbourne Flats, does the Government propose to actually sell the Northbourne Flats?
Mr Collaery's response on this matter is typical of the man. He has used a ploy which he has made use of previously, and it is a ploy of innuendo and inference. I would just like to refer to another example of his use of this. In this chamber, in response to a dorothy dix question from Mrs Nolan concerning Tuggeranong swimming complex on 13 February 1990, Mr Collaery, in referring to Mr Whalan, said:
Thanks to events in this chamber, we have had access to Mr Whalan's documentation ...
The impression that Mr Collaery sought to create was that he had secret access to some sinister document - - -
Mr Collaery: Like the blue fly.
Mr Duby: Yes, at least we did not have it on tape.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Collaery, Mr Duby, please desist.
MS FOLLETT: I will repeat it, Mr Speaker. I presume that as members are being so free with their interjections, I will be allowed to conclude my remarks, even if I run over time. The impression that Mr Collaery quite clearly sought to create was that he had secret access to some sinister documents of Mr Whalan's, which proved some improper motive or action on Mr Whalan's part.
Mr Speaker, these tools of inference and innuendo are Mr Collaery's stock in trade. They are not appropriate as a stock in trade for the Attorney-General. The facts are irrelevant to him; he leads a fact-free existence. On 20 March in this Assembly - and it is recorded in Hansard - Mr Collaery resorted to the same technique in relation to the Northbourne Flats. He is somewhat flushed, Mr Speaker.
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