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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 250 ..

MRS CARNELL: I have all of the quotes, absolutely.

Mr Berry: Yes, but that is not what she was sacked for.

MRS CARNELL: I am sorry; it was. I want to run through some of the allegations made by Ms Rees that are already on the public record. These are allegations of the most serious nature. In July last she singled out a senior ACT Government planner in an article in the Canberra Times, saying:

His proposals reek of the 1880s when there was no distance between government and land sales, with ... rampant corruption in land dealings ...

Not content with personal abuse of individual public servants she disagrees with, she also goes about blackening the reputation of hardworking public servants by quite indiscriminate attacks. Also in the pages of the Canberra Times, she alleged that bureaucrats - - -

Mr Moore: You said you would provide some evidence. Where is the evidence?

MRS CARNELL: That is fine. She alleged that bureaucrats are guilty of "massive deceit" in relation to the establishment of new planning and land management practices, and that the Labor Party "supports it all". There have also been allegations of dishonesty in advice given to the Government and the Assembly and suggestions that public servants use their position and their inside information for personal profit. Ms Rees told an Assembly committee that advice from the Planning Authority was not always honest. She told the Stein inquiry:

There is a perception that public officials can, and do, use their "inside information" on redevelopment plans for personal profit ...

Yet when evidence to back these allegations has been demanded of Ms Rees, none is forthcoming. Indeed, when this Government established the Stein inquiry, she and others were given the opportunity to lay all her evidence on the table. What did she say? I quote again:

... we have been unable in the short time available to provide detailed documentation or proof of wrongdoing.

That is an appalling admission from someone who has spent probably the last decade or so claiming to root out corruption. No proof, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker; no proof at all. When her allegations were tested, she was found wanting. That admission that she had no proof was made in August 1995. Since then, has there been any retraction or even a slowing down of the outrageous slanders she has made against senior public servants? No. Has there been any attempt from Ms Rees to be fair-minded about the dedication and diligence of ACT public servants? No, there has not. There has simply been a continuation of the same campaign of baseless allegations, printed prominently and without question in the Canberra Times.

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