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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 12 Hansard (24 November) . . Page.. 3605 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):
Another ground is:
The project did not have the benefit of a structural engineer and an explosives demolition expert in accordance with the Demolition Code of Practice.
Of the five points he makes, the closest that come to poor administration are:
The Government Regulatory bodies failed to exercise their roles in a visible fashion ...
And here is the closest to what Mr Quinlan has argued:
Senior officials of the CMD and the Chief Minister's Media adviser, with no knowledge of the demolition process, played a prominent intrusive role that was wholly unwarranted in what was a commercial industrial project ...
Mr Quinlan: Plural. He said officials. Plural.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, that is right. That is true. But there are five grounds there. Only two at most relate to poor administration. It is a gross distortion to argue that the coroner has found that poor administration killed Katie Bender. That is not what he has said. Read what he actually had to say. I suspect that anyone who has read this report and who comes and listens to this debate today would find two very different sets of information lying in front of them.
Mr Berry, back in 1994, made great play of the findings of the Pearce inquiry and the fact that he had been exonerated by that report. Mr Berry has said frequently in this house since then, "I was exonerated by that report".
Mr Berry: No, no. No adverse findings.
MR HUMPHRIES: Well, all right; no adverse findings. You are actually on the record as saying you were exonerated, Mr Berry. I think you will find you are actually on the record as saying you were exonerated.
Mr Berry: I was.
MR HUMPHRIES: Okay, now he repeats it, Mr Speaker. He says he was exonerated. He claims he was exonerated by the Pearce inquiry. The headline in the Canberra Times recorded accurately, I would submit, the day after this inquest "Chief Minister exonerated".
Mr Berry: It was sycophantic. I will put it on the record.
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