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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 3 Hansard (28 May) . . Page.. 765 ..

Mr Corbell: Decent answers.

MR HUMPHRIES: Okay. Let us see whether this is a decent answer to this question. There were two parts to Mr Berry's question. As to the blocks of land the Government understood the Bolton family to hold leases for prior to 15 May 1998, the Chief Minister got up and said:

The block numbers were 629, 495 and, I think, 630. They were the three block numbers that Mr Whitcombe actually held the physical leases for, Mr Speaker.

Mr Corbell: That is not an answer. That is a complete misrepresentation.

MR HUMPHRIES: You asked for the block numbers.

Mr Corbell: What was the knowledge you had, not the knowledge Mr Whitcombe had?

MR HUMPHRIES: No, she did not say that. The question was: What were the three blocks the Government understood the Bolton family to hold leases for? The Chief Minister gave three block numbers. She made reference to Mr Whitcombe, because they were the block numbers of the three leases he brought in to the Chief Minister's office and put on her table. That was a complete and categorical answer to that question, Mr Corbell. The second question was: What were the terms of those leases? The Chief Minister said:

We were aware -

not Mr Whitcombe; "we", the Government -

that these leases were held on a month-to-month basis, as I have said every day this week in this place; but we were also aware that the Boltons had been on this property for nearly 150 years ...

The Chief Minister went on to talk about other things. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, nobody reading that question and that answer could fail to acknowledge, as Mr Corbell has just failed to acknowledge, that the question was answered fully and comprehensively. You asked for the blocks for which we believed the Bolton family held leases and we told you the three numbers. We did; it is there in black and white, Mr Corbell. If you are not prepared to concede that, it shows what you are bringing to this debate. You are bringing to this debate a deliberate intention to beat up the impression that the Government is refusing to answer questions. In fact, every day we have come to this place and answered the questions you have asked comprehensively, fully and, I might say, extremely repetitively because they have been asked time and time again.

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