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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2290 ..

Mr Humphries: Yes, because he was guilty of misleading the house. That is why he had to resign.

MR BERRY: Mr Humphries interjects, as he cannot contain himself. He said, "You had to resign". I had to resign to save the Follett Government, because if I had not resigned the Government would have fallen. That was made clear to the Chief Minister at the time. The Assembly passed a motion of no confidence. I think that was wrong. Others in this Assembly would think that was right. People outside this place reported that all it proved was that nine beats eight. There were other versions, of course, but it is past history so far as the TAB is concerned. I am sure it has moved on past that to this point.

I needed to again clarify the record in respect of my involvement in those matters. On the one hand, yes, there was a motion in this Assembly which withdrew support from me as a Minister. The threat was that the Follett Government would fall if I did not resign. I resigned and the Follett Government survived its term. The subsequent inquiry cleared me - I repeat that; it cleared me - of any blame for the events that were involved in VITAB.

Now, so far as Labor is concerned, this motion is a matter for the Government, and I suspect that they are feeling pressure as well. The problem for them is that if they resist a call for an inquiry the suggestion goes out that they have something to hide. That is the very problem that we have. We are not going to resist this, because there is a suggestion that we have something to hide, and we have not.

Mr Humphries: So why are you hesitating, then?

MR BERRY: No, we are not hesitating. I am just putting to you the point that if, for example, the Opposition were to join with the Government to resist this, the accusation would be that Labor and the Government have something to hide; that Labor on the one hand have something to hide, and the Government on the other hand have something different to hide.

Mrs Carnell: As long as it is not the same thing.

MR BERRY: Or they both have similar things to hide. Who knows? But the - - -

Mr Moore: Or we just want to get their hide.

MR BERRY: Or, alternatively, people may well say, as Mr Moore interjects, "We" - whoever "we" are - "just want to get both their hides". The question here is: Who is going to resist an inquiry of this nature, given the sensitivities of it? There are certainly dangers, as I have alluded to earlier, and they are something that members have to fully understand when they are going down this path, and they are significant dangers to a corporate body in the Territory. That is something that members have to keep in mind. It is a very important body which provides cash flow to the

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