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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 10 Hansard (24 November) . . Page.. 2796 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

Mr Speaker, they have to undo or start to undo the mess they have made, to withdraw the old brochure and do that publicly, and once and for all realise that the petition that they got signatures on as a result of this brochure totally lacks credibility, because the basis upon which they got those signatures is now shown to be absolutely wrong. Mr Speaker, yes, this is an embarrassing - - -

Mr Corbell: Thousands and thousands and thousands of Canberrans, and you know that they do not want it sold.

MR SPEAKER: You have been warned already, Mr Corbell. Watch it.

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, this is an embarrassing stuff-up for those opposite. I think it is appropriate to finish today by quoting Mr Berry. On WIN Television on Friday night Mr Berry said:

Obviously there are people's jobs at stake here and there has to be more care taken with statistics.

Mr Speaker, that is too true.

MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, I am shocked, to say the least. I am shocked.

MR SPEAKER: And I am waiting for your supplementary question.

MR HIRD: I am put right back in my seat, sir. My supplementary question is this, Mr Speaker: Does the Chief Minister agree with Mr Berry's comment in his media release last Thursday that she should stick to the facts when she answers questions in this place?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I do agree with that statement by Mr Berry, and I did stick to the facts. I think we have shown that in the chamber last week and again this week. I accept the apology made by Mr Quinlan this morning, but it does not go anywhere near making up for the fact that Mr Berry has refused to accept any responsibility for his actions. He is still being quite glib about the fact that all of these brochures have gone out. If this was an honest mistake, as claimed by Mr Quinlan, then why did Mr Berry issue a media release, after I pointed out the error, which not only accused me of lying but which then went on to argue why Labor's calculations were actually right. Mr Speaker, let me repeat what Mr Berry said in his press release:

But the Chief Minister has been caught out by the figures provided by ACTEW itself.

Mr Speaker, we now know who provided them. Mr Quinlan provided them - not ACTEW itself and not the Government. Again I call on Mr Berry to withdraw publicly the pamphlet, to apologise in the same way that Mr Quinlan has done - let us be fair, it is Mr Berry's brochure - and accept that the petition that the Labor Party has been touting around has lost every bit of credibility it may have ever had.

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