Page 783 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 13 April 1994
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Petrol Station Site
MRS CARNELL: Madam Speaker, my question without notice is to Mr Connolly - I was tempted to ask a health question of Mr Connolly, but I will not - in his position as Minister responsible for consumer affairs. I refer the Minister to an agreement purported to have been signed by him and the Burmah oil company. On Saturday, 30 October 1993, the Canberra Times carried the triumphant story, which ran:
The Minister for Urban Services, Terry Connolly, signed an agreement yesterday giving the company a three year licence on the site, with the option for two further years.
I ask the Minister: Is it correct that the document was signed not on 29 October, as you gleefully announced, but on 22 November 1993? Is it also correct that the document was signed not by you, as you also proudly announced, but by Mr Peter Guild, a senior officer in the Department of the Environment, Land and Planning? What was the reason for this?
MR CONNOLLY: Shock, horror; shock, horror! The Liberals have asked a question on petrol prices. Is that not good? I am delighted to table the licence agreement between the Australian Capital Territory and Burmah Fuels. I would have been delighted to table this agreement at any stage, but the Liberals for some months have been hesitant to ask questions about petrol prices. The operative agreement was indeed signed on 22 November 1993 by an official of the ACT Administration on behalf of the ACT Government. It did supersede an earlier agreement, which had equally been signed by an official of the ACT Administration on behalf of the Government and a senior official of Burmah Fuels. The date you referred to was the date of the press announcement that we were entering into an agreement with Burmah Fuels, where we waived - - -
Mrs Carnell: You had it in your hand. You said, "I have signed it".
MR CONNOLLY: Yes. I think it was a letter of intent to say that we were - - -
Mrs Carnell: You said, "I signed the agreement yesterday".
MR CONNOLLY: Churlish, churlish, churlish; petty, petty, petty! The fact of the matter is that on the date of that press conference the price of petrol was 76.5c a litre in Canberra. Today the price of petrol is 69.9c a litre in Canberra. The price of petrol in similar regional cities around New South Wales today is 75c to 77c a litre. The deal with Burmah that we entered into, which was never secret and which always would have been tabled in this Assembly, was a good deal for the ACT Administration.
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