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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 8 Hansard (25 October) . . Page.. 2058 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services) (5.10): Mr Speaker, may I talk about something very important and on which Mr Berry and I would probably agree, although I shudder to think why?

Mr Berry: I am not going to have a chance to tell you because I have had my say.

MR DE DOMENICO: That is right. Last night the prevention awards were made here in Canberra. I congratulate all those participants in those awards. They showed how innovative both the public sector and the private sector can be in making sure that we have safe and good workplaces. I cannot resist commenting, like my colleague Mrs Carnell. From time to time people in this place tend to say things out there in the community that are not as true as they should be. When people start talking about governments closing certain things I think they ought to get their facts right. Whenever people note that they have inadvertently said something that they perhaps should not have said, or have said the wrong thing, they ought to have the guts to stand up in this place and say, "I was wrong. It means that I am human. I apologise". All of us ought to read what we say in this place from time to time. Some of the things that you notice when you revisit the words that are put in Hansard are surprising. Mr Berry should know all about this. I recall that time and time again he was given opportunities in another Assembly to back-pedal. Mr Berry did not take those opportunities and he faced the consequences, as he well knows. I suggest that all members of this place ought to revisit from time to time what they say in here so as to make sure that what they say here reflects the truth. Then no-one can be accused of misleading anybody else.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (5.12), in reply: Mr Speaker, Mr Berry wanted to put the record straight. I want to do the same thing. Yesterday in another debate he accused me of removing 100 trees for the erection of the Tuggeranong weather station.

Mr Berry: Was it only 90?

MR HUMPHRIES: We are removing some trees. I will confess that. It is not 100 trees. It is not 80 trees. It is not even 60 trees. It is not even 40 trees. Mr Speaker, we are removing 21 trees, of which four are golden willows. They are not native trees. They are invasive trees which are very bad for our waterways, and the Government is systematically removing them. The next time I go to cut down a golden willow, Mr Berry can chain himself to it and protect it. He will find himself lined up against me and a great many other environmentalists. Three trees are also to be removed from a casuarina stand which was affected by fire not so long ago. They are in pretty bad shape. There are only 14 trees being removed that perhaps Mr Berry might want to protect, and they are radiata pines, none of which are native trees anyway. Mr Speaker, even if we wear sackcloth and ashes for taking away those 14 radiata pines from Tuggeranong - - -

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