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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 272 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I agree with some of the things that Mr Wood had to say, but I do not intend to labour them. I expected, in one way, nothing less; so I have a long list of things that Ms Rees has had to say about Mr Wood. I would have been very surprised if Mr Wood had not made reference to the sort of behaviour that was attributable, on those occasions, to Ms Rees. I have to say that the comments, which I will not read onto the record - I think others would have seen them at other stages - that Ms Rees made about Mr Wood went far beyond what ought to be reasonable public debate on those matters. I think that they were intemperate and that they were quite unnecessarily smearing of Mr Wood's character.

Mr Berry: But you did not come out and defend him.

MR HUMPHRIES: I was not planning spokesman, Mr Berry, and, in politics, one tends to take comfort from one's enemies being attacked. I think those comments were unfair and I am glad to see - - -

Ms McRae: You did not say so then, did you?

MR HUMPHRIES: What opportunity do you think I should have had to say that, Ms McRae? What opportunity do you think we should have had?

Ms McRae: You did not say that before you appointed her.

MR HUMPHRIES: I was not planning spokesman at that stage. It was not my role to say anything about that. Mr Speaker, I am also surprised that there should be this view by the Opposition, particularly, that there is now somebody to defend Ms Rees in their circumstances. The comments that she has made over the last few years, which I maintain were comments suggesting corruption, maladministration and other inappropriate and improper things, were probably more comprehensively made about the previous Labor Government than about this Government. Those comments, I believe, went much too far and were unfair.

I would say to those opposite that the claims, particularly of Ms Rees on the radio yesterday, that the Stein inquiry had vindicated all of the claims that were made by the detractors of the planning system before the Stein inquiry, are simply not true. I would like to complete the quotes I was trying to read onto the record previously, before my time expired. The board of inquiry said this:

... we did not see it as appropriate, bearing in mind the terms of reference and given the procedures adopted to expeditiously complete the Inquiry, to make findings of misconduct, impropriety or unlawful activity. In any event, the Board does not believe that such investigations into the numerous claims would necessarily profit us in addressing the problems of the leasehold system.

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