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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (20 May) . . Page.. 392 ..

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I stand by exactly what I said yesterday. I approached many developers in Canberra in all sorts of forums with regard to rural residential development and asked them to think about this and to come forward with innovative ideas, which is exactly what I said yesterday. With regard to Hillview, I did not know Hillview existed until Mr Whitcombe came forward with a proposal.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, it was a very specific question.

MR SPEAKER: Yes, and I am aware of that.

MR BERRY: Did the Chief Minister - - -

Ms Carnell: Is that a supplementary question?

MR SPEAKER: It is a supplementary question; I am treating it as a supplementary question.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, the standing orders, of course, determine how things should be treated.

MR SPEAKER: The standing orders are interpreted by the Speaker.

MR BERRY: If the Chief Minister did approach Mr Whitcombe about the developments in the Hall area, why did she tell the Assembly yesterday that she did not?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I just answered that question. I said yesterday quite definitely that, with regard to Hillview, I did not approach Mr Whitcombe; and that is exactly what I said yesterday.

Gambling - Productivity Commission Inquiry

MS TUCKER: My question is to the Chief Minister. Mrs Carnell, I understand that in preparation for the Productivity Commission's inquiry into gambling, the Federal Treasurer wrote to State and Territory leaders asking them for comments on the draft terms of reference for that inquiry. Could you inform the Assembly how you responded to this request? Could you table, for the Assembly's information, any response you made?

MS CARNELL: That is the sort of question, I have to say, that it is always very useful to be given a bit of notice of, because it means that then we could bring down the information involved. But that is all right, Mr Speaker. The ACT Government is currently conducting, as everybody would know, its own inquiry into gambling, mostly from the perspective of national competition policies but also covering social aspects of gambling. The ACT Government supports the proposed Commonwealth inquiry into Australia's gambling industries. A national inquiry that examined the economic and social impacts of gambling, particularly in the area of small business and the impact on the welfare system, would allow the ACT to build on its own information and to make further

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