Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 1525 ..

MR QUINLAN (6.34): Mr Speaker, on a lighter side, I have a bit of news from the front. I have just heard, during an interview at Bruce Stadium with Capital 10 this evening, the sprinklers came on and they could not find the groundsman. So if you are talking to your bookie tonight, a wet track may favour Manly. Get on the phone now.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General, Minister for Justice and Community Safety and Minister Assisting the Treasurer) (6.35), in reply: Mr Speaker, I wish to raise a couple of matters. A question has been raised tonight about references to members' personal staff. I do not think any member in this place makes such references lightly but, Mr Speaker, I for one do not resile from anything that I have said about this matter. I note that Mr Kaine, when he rose to make reference to his not being responsible for any leaking of Cabinet documents or any handing around of Cabinet documents, was very careful not to include his staff in that reference. If he wants to come back on the next occasion and say he is also confident that his staff are not responsible for that, I would be interested to hear what he has to say. Mr Speaker, those are the comments on the record.

Mr Speaker, in the debate on the censure motion on Tuesday, there was a matter that Mr Wood raised about the difference between an uncorrected proof copy of Hansard dating back to 28 May and a weekly Hansard which was subsequently published which had quite different words used in respect of comments I made about the Kinlyside development. Mr Wood raised, I think fairly, a quite significant disparity between my words as used on 28 May and my words as published in the Weekly Hansard. I have consulted with Hansard about the difference between those words and I am assured that the variation was made at the behest of the staff of Hansard in order to clarify the meaning of the words. I have been assured that no member of my staff asked for that change to be made. I certainly made no change of that kind myself. I want to put it on the record that it is quite a significant variation. I do not think the variation is unfair in terms of the effect that was being achieved, but I think it is fair to put it on the record that there was no instigation by me or my office for that variation to occur.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .