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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 8 Hansard (28 October) . . Page.. 2344 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

I want to thank all of those members who have supported this motion. It may not seem much in the scheme of things for a small parliament representing 300,000 or so residents to pass a motion like this on such an important national issue, but it is a representation on behalf of the Chilean community and their supporters as part of our constituency and our obligations to them. We are also obliged, as I said earlier, I think, as internationalists, in that sense to take decisions which would be seen to be expanding human and political rights in other countries. The Chilean people remain troubled by politics in their own country, and it is right and proper for those of us in other democracies to protest the need for the further expansion of democracies in other places.

Finally, Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to paragraph (3) of my motion in which we call on all governments to actively pursue every legal opportunity to bring the perpetrators, including General Augusto Pinochet, to justice. Given the behaviour of the Pinochet regime, many of us might be tempted to support means to bring this person to justice that might not be described as legal. Nevertheless, we are obliged to extend to Augusto Pinochet something that he never extended to his own people, and that is a proper rule of law and proper human and political rights. I thank members for their support for this motion.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

ACTEW - Sale

MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Acting Chief Minister. Yesterday in answer to a question from Mr Wood about the caretaker period applying to ACTEW, the Acting Chief Minister told the Assembly the term meant that ACTEW should consult with the Government before making major decisions, not that it should stop competing for new business. Is the Acting Chief Minister aware that the Chief Minister told the Estimates Committee on 21 July that the Government's intention in imposing the caretaker period was that ACTEW should not enter into new investments or long-term contracts? How does the Acting Chief Minister reconcile the two definitions of "caretaker mode"?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, my understanding of what the Chief Minister asked ACTEW to do was to consult with the ACT Government before major decisions were made. Until I have seen what the Chief Minister actually said to the Estimates Committee, I will reserve any comment on what Mr Stanhope has purported that the Chief Minister said to the Estimates Committee. My understanding is based on my discussions generally about this matter within the ranks of the Government and I related that to the Assembly in my answer to the question yesterday. If Mr Stanhope says that the Chief Minister has given a different answer - - -

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