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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 5 Hansard (5 May) . . Page.. 1391 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, there are guidelines about talking to parties who come to the Government seeking commercial-in-confidence contracts and putting to them the circumstances where those contracts will not be acceptable, that is true. But many of these documents predate those guidelines and the contracts were entered into with the commercial-in-confidence provisions there. We are not arguing in our guidelines that our views about commercial-in-confidence are such that we can now just rip up a contract which has already got that clause in it.

Ms Tucker: You can produce statements.

MR HUMPHRIES: What sorts of statements?

Ms Tucker: You can fulfil your part of the guidelines and principles.

MR SPEAKER: Order! You will have an opportunity to join the debate when Mr Humphries is finished.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, to answer Ms Tucker's further interjection, the Chief Minister is quite prepared, as I understand her comments earlier today, to write to those parties and say, "Will you allow your contract to be tabled on the floor of the Assembly, notwithstanding the commercial-in-confidence?". But if we are required to table them without the consent of the party which has such a clause in there to protect the confidentiality of their provisions, we are in breach of that contract and we are also in breach of the principles. We have already established in this place that we do not ask for commercial-in-confidence contracts to be put on the table. Sure, Ms Tucker, we as a government have to go back and apply the guidelines that are now on the table by persuading parties or saying to parties, if necessary, in the future, "We won't accept commercial-in-confidence contracts unless there is a very good reason for doing so". But many of the contracts covered by this motion predate those provisions and that would be, I would submit, unfair.

Mr Speaker, the point that needs to be made about paragraph (g) is that there is a matter of some sensitivity about SOCOG's requirements. SOCOG has made it very clear that its arrangements are in confidence. I have some qualms about it, but I am not too concerned about being sued by - - -

Mr Berry: SOCOG should not be keeping secrets.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, if I could make my remarks.

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry! I invite you to join the debate after Mr Humphries is finished, if you wish.

MR HUMPHRIES: I am not exactly comfortable, but I am prepared to wear the possibility of the Government being sued by somebody who has a contract with us which is meant to be commercial-in-confidence but which we table on the floor of this place.

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