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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1504 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

If Mrs Carnell wishes to perpetuate the misrepresentation in the headline, it is her choice, not mine. There is no direct quote from me about wealth, either in the paper or in the Hansard.

Mr Humphries: It is pretty clear, though.

MS McRAE: You may make whatever inferences you choose, Mr Humphries. This is my personal explanation. I at no point juxtaposed wealth against poverty. I spoke about poor people.

Mr Humphries: You said poor people live in Queanbeyan. You did say that.

MS McRAE: Poor people live in Queanbeyan, and I will say it again, thank you, Mr Humphries. That is not the point. The point is, and I will explain, that I am being misrepresented. I was talking about the effect of the regulation of shopping hours and the double effect it has on people who are already disadvantaged.

In the course of the day I have had a call from a woman in Queanbeyan, who said that she cannot vote for me but if she lived in Belconnen she would. She said, "At last here is a politician who understands about poor people. I was very moved by Ms McRae's description of poor people, and the sentiments expressed were right".

MR BERRY: I seek leave to make a personal explanation under standing order 46, Mr Speaker. My personal explanation is in relation to an attempt by Mrs Carnell to mislead the community about a statement I made in this house some time ago on smoke-free public places. Mrs Carnell was very careful to make sure that the full context of the quote was not made public again. The fact of the matter is that I was commenting on Labor's proposal for dealing with a smoke-free workplace, which was a two-pronged process that involved the Occupational Health and Safety Act - - -

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, you are beginning to debate this now.

MR BERRY: No, I am not.

MR SPEAKER: Just read the context. Never mind two prongs or a packet of 20 or anything like that.

MR BERRY: That involved the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Smoke-Free Areas (Enclosed Public Places) Act, which was introduced by Labor. The Government has ignored both.

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