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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 10 Hansard (14 October) . . Page.. 3194 ..

MR SPEAKER: Indeed. I have been here long enough to know that you are beginning to become disrespectful to the Chair and I will deal with you. Keep it up and you will be warned and then you will be named.

MR BERRY: Thank you, Mr Speaker. For this Minister to criticise other people in this place is sheer hypocrisy, given his track record. Members should not support his plea for them to oppose this motion. This motion goes to the conduct - - -

MR SPEAKER: The word "hypocrisy" should be withdrawn.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I withdraw it. It is two-faced for this Minister to criticise other members of this place, given his performance.

Ms Carnell: Mr Speaker, you have ruled on that.

MR SPEAKER: I have ruled on that. I warn you, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: Have you ruled on "two-faced"?

Ms Carnell: Mr Speaker had ruled on your lack of relevance by saying exactly the same thing on three other occasions.

MR BERRY: Why do you not get up in the chair?

MR SPEAKER: You continue to do it, and I am warning you now.

MR BERRY: Mr Humphries' plea for members to oppose this motion is merely doublespeak.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health and Community Care) (5.20): Mr Speaker, we are actually talking about the expenditure of public dollars. Throughout all the situations that have occurred over the last months with regard to things such as Bruce Stadium there has never been any inference in any way that public dollars went into personal pockets. But in this case, Mr Speaker, we have an unacceptable situation. We have a situation where the person who has ridden up on a white charger and said that he is about ensuring that government money is appropriately spent has himself, in a hypocritical fashion, taken public money to do a job and not done that job. That is what it is about; it is about taking public money to do a job and not doing that job.

What has happened, as Mr Stanhope explained to us only a few minutes ago, is that, apart from the first meeting when he was elected chairman of the committee, the committee did not meet until two weeks ago when it met to set out its work practices, and he said all the things that it is going to do. For five months he was standing around doing nothing and taking public money. It was a relatively small amount; nevertheless, it was public money.

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