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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 7 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 1932 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

Mrs Carnell added at one stage that, if I challenge the education budget - as I have just done again - it will bring down the Government. If you want to take that position, then the choice is yours. But there are a myriad of positions in between the one you have taken and the one I have taken. You can negotiate appropriately and settle with the teachers, and you will find that your budget goes through.

Then there was the statement, "Michael Moore only wants to put money in teachers' pockets". Indeed, the statement that appeared in the Canberra Times went further than that. I know that there has been a personal apology made about that; nevertheless, it appeared in the Canberra Times. It implied that I would be putting money in my own pocket because my wife is a part-time teacher. That is the most disgusting type of politicking that I have ever been involved with. The reality is that it is not true.

I hear an interjection back there coming from Mr De Domenico, the Bantam of the Opera, who likes to sing his songs. He ought to come into the chamber if he wants to make interjections, Mr Speaker. In that way he will be the Bantam of the Opera in here.

Mr Speaker, let me say, first of all, that since before I was elected in 1989 my wife has not worked in a school. She does work as a relief teacher. But, even for a relief teacher, part of the trade-off that the Carnell Government has been talking about would leave a teacher with my wife's qualifications much worse off. So, the implication that in some way that was going to bring money back into my own pocket was an appalling and disgusting comment that ought to have been publicly withdrawn. It has yet to be publicly withdrawn, although, as I acknowledged when I began speaking on this issue, Mrs Carnell did phone me personally to apologise.

Mrs Carnell: Who made it? It was not a quote, was it?

MR MOORE: She interjects now that it was not a quote; but then one wonders exactly how it got into the paper.

Mr Humphries: How does it ever get in there?

MR MOORE: Mr Humphries interjects to ask how it ever gets into the paper. We know how these things get into the paper. They may not be direct quotes, but we certainly have ways of ensuring that concepts and perceptions get into the paper.

It offends me. Even yesterday, somebody raised this issue with me. People continue to raise the issue with me. I take telephone calls from people saying, "You have a conflict of interest. Why do you not butt out of this issue?". They probably come from Liberal Party types. However, let me also say that they are incredibly outnumbered - probably by about 10, 15 or 20 to one - by people who say, "Hang in there. It is about time our teachers got the pay rise". If you ask, "Are you a teacher?", some of them say, "Yes, sure, I am". The vast majority say, "No, I am not".

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