Page 2352 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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MR SPEAKER: Yes. I think you cannot rely on words said earlier in the debate to qualify your later statement that he misled the house. I would ask you to withdraw that, Mr Stevenson, and, if you so desire, to move a substantive motion against the Attorney-General on that basis.
MR STEVENSON: I do not quite understand. Clearly what Mr Collaery said was not true, so I said he misled the house. I had already acknowledged that it may have been because he was misled.
MR SPEAKER: Order! There is a parliamentary procedure for bringing that matter to the Assembly, and that is a substantive motion. Therefore, I would ask you to withdraw the expression that he misled the Assembly because you did not qualify it when you said "at that time". Previously you said he may have. That time you said he did.
MR STEVENSON: Indeed, I do so.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Albrighton alleges theft of public property out of the Belconnen Remand Centre, and Carol Connelly also alleged theft. Mr Albrighton says that these matters have not been investigated. He alleges assault of a detainee by three officers with the superintendent, Mr Keith Brightman, standing nearby in apparent consent. Was this the case? We need to look at that. He alleges and Carol Connelly alleges that she was charged with an assault on detainee K. Cox, which did not occur - another matter that needs to be investigated. We need to understand whether or not Margaret Warren's complaint about sexual harassment by Mr Eric Ebsworth has been investigated and, if so, we need to have an understanding of that.
We need to understand whether or not Barry Albrighton was simply doing his job as a union representative in asking questions about the matter, after which he was charged with the suggestion that he did attempt to persuade Eric Ebsworth to change a statement previously prepared. We need to understand whether various allegations by Mr Albrighton are true or not. They make sense from what I have seen.
I have two pages of questions that should be asked in the matter. Indeed, we have a time problem. What I request is that this matter be immediately investigated. There are serious allegations about management and propriety at the Belconnen Remand Centre which, to my knowledge, the Attorney-General has not investigated, and I ask that this be done immediately.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (6.23): Mr Speaker, I will say only two very brief things in this matter. One is that the Government regrets that this matter has been raised in this fashion and believes that it was inappropriately done. The second is that,
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