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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 6 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 1888 ..

MR BERRY: I ask a supplementary question. Will the Chief Minister concede that the International Hotel School, the board of which is chaired by Mr Ian Knop, rented the office from Mr Ian Knop's company in Sydney?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I think I have answered that question already. Mr Knop is the chair of the Hotel School and yes, they did use the office in Sydney. Is Mr Berry suggesting that they should have rented another office that was not the ACT office because Mr Knop was renting the current Sydney office to the Government?

Mr Berry: Will the Chief Minister just confirm in ordinary straightforward language for everybody to understand whether it is true that he rented the office from himself.

MR SPEAKER: You do not have to answer that, Chief Minister. The question has been answered. You do not get three questions, Mr Berry.

MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I would like a bit of hush so that the Minister can hear my question. My question, through you, Mr Speaker, is to the Minister for Urban Services. I am sure he has already got his answer ready, because I am sure he will have been warned that I would be asking a question such as this. I will not tell you how he will know, but he will find it under "M" for Monaro Highway. In the budget for 1997-98, in the capital works program there was provision for the expenditure of $2.95m on a stretch of the Monaro Highway between Royalla and Williamsdale, of which $694,000 was to have been spent in last year's budget and the remainder of which, around $2.25m, was to have been spent this year, because the completion date was May 1999. Minister, this year's capital works program makes absolutely no reference to that project whatsoever. It has disappeared from the face of the earth. Minister, is it a fact that that project that was in last year's capital works program had so little priority attached to it that it can completely disappear out of the works program between last year's budget and this one?

MR SMYTH: I thank the member for his question. No, that still is a priority. That is something that we will do. It is now programmed to commence in August-September 1999 and to be completed in April-May the following year.

MR KAINE: I ask a supplementary question. Minister, where does that appear in this year's capital works program? I have a copy of the capital works program in front of me. It is not mentioned. It has completely disappeared from the capital works program. It does not show as works in progress, it does not show in the forward design list - it does not show anywhere.

MR SMYTH: It is not included in the budget papers this year because they cover year 1998-99 projects only. It is included in the capital works program in the outyears.

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