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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 810 ..

Mr Berry: You hypocrite!

MR MOORE: The irony is, Mr Berry, that you have stood in this Assembly again and again to draw attention to conflicts of interest. Mr Berry calls me a hypocrite. He has stood here in this Assembly again and again drawing attention to other people's conflicts of interest; yet in his interjection he has the gall to call me a hypocrite. Mr Speaker, methinks the pot is calling the kettle black. It seems to me the Labor Party is nervous; and so they should be.

Mr Whitecross stands up and talks about the smear campaign of the Labor Party that I am running. It is not a smear campaign; it is an exposition. I have simply read their declaration under the Electoral Act. I have said publicly for some time, for some months, that the Labor Party has been getting a certain amount of money from gaming machines through their licensed club. As Mr Whitecross says, "Everybody knows that. We declare it". That amount of money means that, if they vote on a particular issue, then the community will have to question whether they actually have the ability to stand aside and look impartially at the issue. I would say to members of the Labor Party, "You do not have the ability to look impartially, because when you vote on this, when you speak on this issue, in the back of your mind you will know that if this goes against you there may be a reduction in the little less than a million dollars over three years that goes into your party's funds".

Mr Speaker, that is a good enough reason for us to raise this issue with the Labor Party, draw their attention to it and say, "What you need to do is act in a different way; you need to recognise this; you need to follow the path taken by Mr Osborne and say that it is far better for you to separate yourselves from this issue". Mr Whitecross can stand up here and say, "Mr Moore can smear us as much as he likes, but our decision will not be based on intimidation from the Liberals or from Mr Moore". The very thing that we are concerned about is that he can stand there and say, "We are not going to be influenced by this sort of approach". What are you being influenced by? That is the question that is going to be asked within the Canberra community.

What does influence? We all know that, as much as we may try not to be influenced by it, money has an influence. It is very hard to say no to people to whom you owe something; it is very hard to say no to a process to which you are wedded. It is that distinction that is the critical one; it is that distinction that we are asking you to recognise. The decision you make here will have an influence on the amount of money that goes to your party. The decision you make with reference to gaming machines has an effect on how well you can campaign, because of the resources that money provides for you. That is what it is about. It is about that perception; it is about that influence. You have the prerogative to stand aside from it, and I would encourage you to do so.

I believe it is inappropriate for you to take part in a debate on gaming machines. I believe it is inappropriate for you to vote on issues associated with gaming machines. Mrs Carnell has put this motion. I support it; I agree with it. I want to tell you up front, before we get to the substantive motion, that I believe it is inappropriate for you to debate it or vote on it. This motion urges you members of the Labor Party to abstain, but it leaves the final decision to you.

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