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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 855 ..

Mr Rugendyke: The verbal agreements are not worth the paper they are written on.

MR HARGREAVES: That is right, Mr Rugendyke. Get back. You are supposed to be a learned policeman.

Mr Rugendyke: John, sit down. You have had enough.

Ms Carnell: John, verbal assurances are not worth the paper they are written on. That is what - - -

MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Chief Minister. I am glad for your correction. I am happy to take it on board and who said it. But who cares? Who cares?

Mr Rugendyke: I do.

MR HARGREAVES: Yes? Maybe you should.

Mr Rugendyke: That is why I am supporting this.

MR HARGREAVES: You clearly do not care enough to listen to what is going on at the moment.

Mr Rugendyke: I am listening.

MR HARGREAVES: Yes? All I can hear is your babbling. We need to understand what is trying to be achieved here. We are trying to say to you, "Look, just hang on a second". The motion is the bit which says go for it. Go and negotiate it. Fine. The Bill in fact is the "For Sale" sign. That is the bit to be concerned with. There is no screaming hurry for this. If you think you have seen enough information to be able to pass this thing, then be it on your own consciences. It is really silly because you have not got enough information. You have not got the figures. You have not got the cost benefit analysis. In fact, all you have is this guy's word that it has been done.

I do not believe that it has been done, and therein lies a problem. If we felt that it had been done and we got some sort of a cursory look at it, fine; but it has not been done. None of the substantive number crunching has been done. We have not had any assurances. All we have heard is little vague figures that come out of the ether. That is all we have got, and that is pretty flimsy for the size of the sale we are talking about.

The motion ought to be passed as amended, but not the Bill yet. Do not surrender your right as a MLA to scrutinise something of this size. That is what you are doing. You are just surrendering your rights.

Mr Rugendyke: You are wrong, John.

MR HARGREAVES: You are. You are surrendering your rights.

Amendment (Mr Kaine 's ) to proposed amendment (2) (Mr Quinlan 's ) agreed to.

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