Page 3951 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 October 1991
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MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, I would ask you to withdraw any such implication.
MR BERRY: Mr Deputy Speaker, if Mr Humphries has taken any imputation, then I apologise. Mr Deputy Speaker, I read to you from the Canberra Times of 16 October - - -
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Berry, would you just withdraw any imputation.
MR BERRY: Withdraw what?
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw the imputation.
Mr Humphries: The imputation that I misled the Assembly.
MR BERRY: I withdraw the words that said that he knew it, Mr Deputy Speaker.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Berry.
MR BERRY: I will now demonstrate, Mr Deputy Speaker, that what I said was probably true.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Berry, I would like a complete withdrawal - not a qualified one - and then you can continue with your speech.
MR BERRY: I withdraw that, Mr Deputy Speaker. In the Canberra Times of 16 October 1991 - and I will quote from the articles - Mr Humphries is reported in the following terms:
In the budget blowout during his stewardship, he said, the signs of a blowout had appeared around October-November.
I can understand why the former Minister is twitching. He had said that he did not know that anything was going on. It is quite clear that Mr Humphries was ignoring the facts. It was demonstrated that the budget that he managed was, of course, out of control. It had been reported to him, when Labor was thrown from office, that there were difficulties in his budget, and the real problem is that this former Minister did nothing. And these are the people that are criticising. These people did nothing - and we got 17 million explanations of his refusal to do anything.
Mr Humphries: I raise a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Minister referred to my having done nothing about budget management problems. The Minister, only a few days ago in the Estimates Committee meeting, conceded that, in fact, that was an untrue statement. I would ask him to withdraw the assertion that that was the case.
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