Page 646 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 April 1994
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MR BERRY: I will go back to the issues. I just went through the chronology of it. I will not go through it again, because it is well and truly on the record and there is no need for it. The fact of the matter is that it cannot be said that anybody was misled because we did not announce something that we knew and you did not. When it comes to the matter of consultation with other parties, maybe I should have anticipated that there might have been some interest later on amongst other members, but I do not know how I could do that because there was not an expression of interest in the Assembly about the issue by members other than the Liberals.
Mr Cornwell: I see. That makes it all clear.
MR BERRY: I think that is fair.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! The Minister has a right to be heard.
MR BERRY: In the very brief encounters and the raised eyebrows of those across the floor, indicating, "What are these people on about?", I did not detect any interest amongst the Independents, and if I was in error for not raising it I accept that. I cannot do anything else. From my point of view, nobody set out to mislead anybody in relation to this matter. All of the work behind the scenes, I think, has been done. It is a matter that will be looked at in the course of the inquiry. That will be done in a non-partisan way and a report on the inquiry will be something that people can look at very closely and make their own decisions about. Again I say that I think I have handled the matter responsibly. We made sure that we looked at other opportunities for the pool, or a pool, in the course of the lead-up to that announcement, and again I say that it was my announcement. It was not as if you asked the question in the Assembly in that period and I denied it; it was my announcement. It was not pulled out of me; it was not dragged out of me.
Some other issues have been raised which people might like me to touch on as well. I should refer to the Oak Ltd matter. There is no question, I do not think, about me misleading you over the Oak Ltd matter.
Mr Humphries: You were. You did.
MR BERRY: Hang on a minute. I think I said in the Assembly, and I think you agreed with me a little while ago that I said, that I would look at the matter and report back in due course.
Mrs Carnell: But you knew then.
Mr Humphries: Kolomanski, McMahon, Dowd. They are the three that you said were directors.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Members of the Opposition will have further opportunities to speak. Please allow the Minister to finish.
MR BERRY: I am perfectly happy to table this. It is a letter from Macphillamy Cummins and Gibson. It is to Mr G. Fraser, acting secretary of the Department of the Environment, Land and Planning, and it says:
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