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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 113 ..

Mr Moore: The more open the better. We want to know who donates.

MR HUMPHRIES: That is right. Mr Speaker, I had the secretary of the Australian Labor Party in the ACT in my office with the then president of the Liberal Party, saying to me, "For goodness sake, let us do something about this ridiculous state of affairs with disclosure laws. We have a separate return to give to the ACT in respect of ACT electoral laws, and another return to give at much the same time, with entirely different rules for disclosure, in respect of the Commonwealth Electoral Act". They say, "Can you please do something about it? We want to have the same disclosure arrangements as per the Commonwealth Electoral Act". Tell me, does the Commonwealth Electoral Act have the sort of disclosure you are now asking for? No, it does not, Ms Follett.

Ms Follett: It does not mean that it will not, though. Neither does the ACT.

Ms McRae: You are the Attorney-General. You are the one responsible.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, these people opposite are a joke. They are an absolute pack of hypocrites. They are a joke. They say one thing in private and they say another thing in public. No wonder they have no credibility left.

MR WOOD: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Mr Humphries made my point for me when he said, "Do the trade unions, through the Labor Club, for example, have to show these records?". They do, Mr Speaker. What I am asking is whether your backers will give the same disclosure that the Labor Party backers have to give? Will you do the same as our backers, or some of them, already do?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I will provide the disclosure requirements that are (a) in the present electoral legislation and (b) what has been urged upon me in private by the Australian Labor Party.

Ms McRae: That is not true. They are not good enough.

MR HUMPHRIES: What do you want? Your public face or your private face?

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, my question without notice is to Mr De Domenico in his capacity as Minister for Urban Services. Mr De Domenico, on 2 May 1995 Mrs Carnell said in this Assembly, when talking about the future of ACTION buses:

We can give this guarantee: There will be no reduction in the level of services to Canberra's commuters.

Minister, how do you reconcile that statement by your Chief Minister with the proposed ACTION timetable for 1996, where it is patently obvious that services have been cut? Will you concede that Mrs Carnell has not kept her promise?

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