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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 220 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, let me make something perfectly clear. Perhaps I have not heard properly what the question is.

Mr Berry: I will read it again. I am happy to. We have plenty of time. Do you want me to read it again?

MR HUMPHRIES: I do not wish you to say anything, Mr Berry. I never get any more change from you if I catch you a second time.

Mr Berry: Were you saying that tongue in cheek?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Humphries was speaking in a rhetorical sense. I am sure that he will be able to answer your question adequately.

MR HUMPHRIES: I have to say, Mr Speaker, that I scarcely believed my ears. I am sure Mr Berry will repeat his question when he asks his supplementary question. That is the usual course of events. I thought I heard Mr Berry saying, in not quite as many words, that he thinks the Government should be somehow stepping into an arm's length, independent - - -

Mr Berry: No; Mr Speaker, he obviously did not hear the question. I should read it out again.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, if I could be allowed to finish my answer to the question - - -

MR SPEAKER: Would you like to hear the question again or do you think you can handle it?

MR HUMPHRIES: No; I think I can handle it, Mr Speaker.

Mr Berry: He seems to be misled as to what the question actually said. What advice did the Gungahlin Development Authority receive which concluded that an enclosed oval was not viable - - -

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I heard the question and I am quite prepared to answer it if Mr Berry will take his seat.

MR SPEAKER: Resume your seat, Mr Berry.

Mr Berry: Do not try to put words in my mouth; just answer the question.

MR HUMPHRIES: I am afraid I have to put words in your mouth, Mr Berry, because that is the way the public perceives what you are saying. What you are saying, whether or not you care to admit it, is that the Government should somehow intervene or otherwise throw out an arm's length, independent assessment of a tender process - - -

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