Page 923 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 17 June 1992
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Mr De Domenico: Especially when you can get political points out of it as well.
MR BERRY: This morning, Mr Whip, you were advised of the difficulties which confronted us. It is your choice.
Mr De Domenico: Thirty seconds before, Mr Berry. You had the Bill for a long time.
MR BERRY: Yes, last evening.
Mr De Domenico: You were aware of it for a long time.
MR BERRY: Last evening. I have had a look at it and consider - - -
Mr Humphries: It is a set-up, Wayne.
MR BERRY: You set yourself up. If you are too silly to understand the image of conflict which can be drawn from this, then that is your problem. I merely bring it to the attention of the rest of the Assembly members for them to make a judgment about it. Win, lose or draw, we are duty bound to raise those issues; and we will continue to raise them where the need arises. In this circumstance, I think the need arises.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.06): Madam Speaker, what we are witnessing is a disgraceful abuse of the processes of this Assembly. What Mr Berry is doing is, first of all, imputing some lack of faith and integrity to a member of this Assembly by the very fact that he has raised this matter. He is abusing the private members' time of this Assembly to debate this issue. If he were serious about this, Madam Speaker, he could have raised it long ago; but he chose to raise it on the floor of the house. That speaks for itself. That puts the motive right on the table.
Mr Berry: I was given the Bill last night.
MR KAINE: But you have known that this Bill was in the offing for a long time, and you have known that Mrs Carnell was proposing it. Even if last night you thought that this was such a terrible thing to do, you could have approached the Whip or me or Mrs Carnell and suggested the things that you are suggesting now. But you did not do that, and you did not do it because you chose to do it on the floor of the house and try to stir up - - -
Mr Berry: Is there a conflict of interest? Don't try to cover it up.
MR KAINE: No, there is no conflict of interest, and that is the very point. The document that you quote from talks about a direct or indirect interest in a contract. There is no contract here. I heard Mrs Carnell say to you before, when you were so concerned about Mrs Carnell's integrity, "Aren't you interested in the methadone users?". The answer to that is that of course you are not. That is the furthest thing from your mind. What this Bill purports to do is to provide a program to help methadone users solve their problem. But you are not interested in that because it obviously does not fit into your conception of what a government should be doing. So you choose to attack the author. Madam Speaker, I think that is disgraceful.
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