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MR CONNOLLY: At one point you said, “If you are serious about anti-smoking, go ahead and ban the cricket”. We will not be playing those political games, but I would sound a note of caution to Mrs Carnell. She having quite properly granted an exemption in identical terms to the forms of exemption that we granted, I am sure that there will be a try-on for an extension. When we granted that exemption for the Prime Minister's XI game last year, for which we were criticised and about which some cheap political capital was made, there was also an attempt to get an exemption for the England versus ACT game to allow B and H advertising at that game.

We were told that all sorts of dire consequences would flow if we did not allow the tobacco sponsorship, and I was prevailed upon by all sorts of people from the sporting world saying, “We want the cricket to go ahead. You must allow tobacco to be advertised”. The Government stood firm. We wrote back and said, “We want the cricket to go ahead too. We want the ACT team to get a chance to play England. If you as the Australian Cricket Board really want to see our young players play a visiting team, you should allow the game to go ahead without tobacco advertising”. Indeed, the Cricket Board, in what we believe was an unprecedented action, backed down.

I would urge Mrs Carnell, having done something that we would accept was the right thing in this case, to take a tough line if she is pressed, as I am sure she will be pressed, to grant further and greater exemptions. The Chief Minister can rest assured that the Opposition will support the status quo, but if there is any attempt to weaken that we will be onto you very rapidly.

Ms McRae: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I wonder whether we might have the exemption as well as the tabling speech from Mrs Carnell. Is it normal for that to be given with the tabling speech?

Mrs Carnell: I thought there was a gazette with it.

Ms McRae: It is in the gazette? Is it not normally passed around? That is what I am asking, as a point of clarification.

Ms Follett: If I may speak to the point of order, Mr Speaker, it certainly has been the practice in the past, even where matters were gazetted - for instance, the quarterly financial report - for those matters to be tabled in the Assembly. It might be helpful, particularly as we have so many new members, if that were to be the case with these sorts of exemptions.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, it is certainly the intention of the Government to table the determination as well. If there are not copies available for circulation, I apologise for that oversight; but certainly it would be our intention that it be available. If it is not available now, we will make sure that it is supplied to members at the first available opportunity.


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