Page 655 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 April 1994
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This dubious record showed that what this meeting actually did was to appoint Mr Dowd as a director, but it did not rescind Oak Ltd's position as a director of the company. So Oak is still a director of VITAB, and the Minister now has misled the Assembly three times - in December, in March and again today - even though he was in full possession of the facts and he admitted that he was in full possession of the facts.
If the documentation that Mr Berry tabled today is correct, the directors of VITAB are Dan Kolomanski, Con McMahon, Michael Dowd and Oak Ltd. If Price Waterhouse and the Vanuatu Ministry of Finance are right, the directors are Dan Kolomanski, Con McMahon and Oak Ltd. Madam Speaker, in the Minister's desperate attempt to cover up his own misleading statements, he has simply made the situation worse. Let us be fair - - -
Ms Follett: Why do you not let the inquiry deal with it?
MRS CARNELL: I do not think we need an inquiry on this issue. What we have is categorical evidence that the one set of directors that is not right under any set of information we have is Mr Berry's set of directors. That is the only one that this document does not say is right, that the Vanuatu Ministry of Finance says is wrong, that Price Waterhouse says is wrong, that the documentation that we tabled today said is wrong, that the documentation got by the Sydney Morning Herald said is wrong. The only set of directors that is literally impossible under the information that the Assembly has in front of it is Mr Berry's set of directors, which is Kolomanski, McMahon and Dowd. It is simply not possible.
Mr Berry: As at 10 October. That is what the minutes of the meeting described.
MRS CARNELL: On 10 October what happened was that Michael John Dowd - assuming this letter is correct - was added as a director. The Minister knew that Price Waterhouse had already done a search and that the search had shown Kolomanski, McMahon and Oak - the same information I tabled today.
Mr Berry: What was the second item of business? It was that they do a deal with ACTTAB.
MRS CARNELL: What has that to do with it? Anyway, that does not matter. The fact is that Price Waterhouse did a search in September - one that the Minister had asked for. They showed, as the documents that I tabled today did, as the ones that I tabled in the last sittings did - and so the story goes on - that the directors were Kolomanski, McMahon and Oak Ltd. If this document that you tabled today is right, you have to add Dowd to that list. That is not what you said in the Assembly in December, and it is not what you said in the Assembly in March, and it is not even what you have told the Assembly today.
On the second issue, that of VITAB's bona fides, the Minister stated today that he had requested a full check of the company, its principals and its shareholders. Let us examine his remark today in detail. I think it is actually quite useful for those who are listening to have a look at page 7 of the Minister's speech. On page 7, about halfway down Mr Berry said:
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