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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3221 ..

MR SPEAKER: There was an imputation in that, Mr Moore, about pork barrels.

Mr Moore: Mr Speaker, I withdraw any imputation on any member of this Assembly.

MR SPEAKER: I have no doubt.

Marketing and Promotion Campaign

MR WOOD: Were you anticipating my question, Mr Speaker? "Pork-barrelling" is a very relevant term. Mr Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister. It is in relation to the Feel the Power of Canberra campaign. Can the Chief Minister explain why tenderers in the second stage of the campaign were required to provide the ACT Government with 120 days' credit? Is this because the Government cannot afford to pay them on normal terms of 30 days? How does the Chief Minister reconcile this position with trying to support local small and medium sized businesses who are struggling to survive in difficult economic circumstances? Does the Chief Minister believe it is appropriate to make firms interested in bidding for these contracts provide the Government with four months' credit?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I might just requote the winning tenderer, who made it very clear that he believed that the tender process was appropriate.

Mr Corbell: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. We did not ask for the winning tenderer's opinion. We asked for the Chief Minister's.

MR SPEAKER: Just wait for the answer.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, fairly obviously, I thought it was all right. The tender documentation relating to the implementation of the campaign was developed by the Department of Business, the Arts, Sport and Tourism. It was done in close consultation with the contracts and tenders area of the Department of Urban Services and with the Attorney-General's Department. Notwithstanding the sorts of concerns that some of the companies who chose not to tender have put forward, a number of companies did tender. The tender was well responded to and subsequently it was won by a local company. I think that says it all.

MR SPEAKER: Do you have a supplementary question, Mr Wood?

MR WOOD: I confess that it is not a supplementary question. It is the same question again, Mr Speaker, which was: Why was 120 days' credit demanded?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, again I say that the tender documents were put together by the department, by the contracts and tenders area - the people who do these sorts of things all the time - and by the Attorney-General's Department. The tender was well responded to. If it was well responded to - - -

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