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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 2407 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

Mr Humphries has not done anything to put into place changes to the system of land tenure in the ACT. Quite clearly, if this Federal legislation gets through, that is something that this Assembly is going to have to decide on at some future time, but there is absolutely nothing this Minister has done to put into place changes to the system of land tenure in the ACT. The only proposal to do that, which is on paper, is by the Federal Minister in the Federal Parliament. It has nothing to do with Mr Humphries. So this is an absolutely crazy motion. Mr Speaker, this motion of a lack of confidence, I believe, is completely from left field. The watered down amendment by Ms Horodny is also not applicable because this Minister has done absolutely nothing wrong. This Minister is doing his job in this area in accordance with the laws of the ACT. He is doing his job well. I think it certainly does devalue these types of motions when such stupid motions are brought before this house.

MR MOORE (3.45): Mr Speaker, it has been an extraordinary day in a series of ways. The most recent of those is that Mr Kaine stood up to defend Mr Humphries. Apart from that, Mr Speaker, let me say that it is always the role, I guess, of an opposition that wants to see themselves as an opposition to seek a ministerial scalp. When I first looked at this issue when Ms McRae provided me with some of the evidence quite some time ago - and I thank her for that - it seemed to me that, in fact, there was not enough evidence there, until I looked at the letter that Mrs Carnell wrote to Mr Smith. I think that letter is the very nub of the issue.

The way I see it is this, Mr Speaker: Mr Humphries made a commitment that his Government, not just him - he made a commitment on behalf of his Government - would not seek 999-year leases in the life of this Assembly.

Mrs Carnell: That we would not put legislation in here.

MR MOORE: No; that was the commitment. In March 1996 he said this:

... I have already said publicly that this Government will not seek, during the term of this Assembly, to change the current system of tenure to freehold or perpetual leasehold ...

Mr Speaker, if the situation is that a member of the Government, in this case Mrs Carnell, then wrote to the Federal Government and said, "Give us 999-year leases", if that is what has happened, then Mr Humphries must go, because he made a commitment to the Assembly, on behalf of the Government, that he would not do something. He even used the word "Government".

Mr Speaker, that is why the letter written by Mrs Carnell on 23 September 1996, about six months after that commitment, becomes so critical. In that letter about seeking a change to the leasehold system Mrs Carnell wrote:

I seek your government's support to amend the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act -

that is the Federal Act -

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