Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 761 ..

Mr Berry: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: I am about to rule that there is no point of order in Mr Humphries's comments, but I have to hear them first. I am not a clairvoyant, unfortunately. Proceed, Mr Whitecross.

MR WHITECROSS: The Liberals have received donations from the licensed club industry, but such is their hypocrisy and duplicity that they are not arguing that they should be excluded from debates on these matters; only that we should.

Mr Speaker, let us look at some other contributors to the Liberal Party. Delfast, a courier company, contributes to the Liberal Party. Is the Liberal Government saying, are the Liberal Ministers saying, that the ACT Government can have no dealings with Delfast because they contribute to the Liberal Party? I have not heard them say that, but Delfast do have dealings with the Liberal Party. Is that a conflict of interest? Should that issue be addressed? Project Coordination, a developer in Canberra, made contributions to the Liberal Party. Project Coordination is the contractor for a number of Government projects, some big Government projects.

Mr Humphries: Did it give money to you too?

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Humphries, we are talking about the principle here. The principle that the Liberal Party wants to establish is that if you received a donation from someone you can have nothing further to do with them. You cannot make decisions affecting them; you cannot debate issues affecting them. That is the principle that the Liberal Party is trying to establish. Whether it is a big donation or a small donation, the principle stands. If you have made a donation you have a conflict of interest and you should walk away. Project Coordination is doing millions and millions of dollars worth of work for the Government. It is a contributor to the Liberal Party, but the Liberal Party is not saying that it should be precluded from making those decisions or awarding those contracts.

The Master Builders Association, Mr Speaker, gave donations to the Liberal Party. The master builders have significant interests in land development and significant interests in the building industry in Canberra. I do not remember Mr Humphries saying, "I cannot speak on matters affecting land and planning in the ACT because I received a donation from the Master Builders Association. I cannot make decisions about future land releases in Canberra because the MBA, who develop land in Canberra, made a donation to my political party". None of these issues have been raised, Mr Speaker. That is the cross that you are making for yourselves if you go down this track. It is a very simple principle. Conflict of interest is about relationships. If they are going to say that any donor has established a relationship which creates a conflict of interest, Mr Speaker, then that is a principle they have to apply to themselves as well as to us.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .