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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 993 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

being introduced. This is absolutely appalling, Mr Speaker. With regard to the way the committee treated this, I have to make the comment that I wanted the committee to recommend that the Government reinstate that amount of money. Two members of the committee rejected that recommendation, and a third, to his credit, offered a compromise position. Basically, that was that the Government be asked to go back and think again. I was prepared to accept that compromise, but that was rejected by the other two members, Mr Speaker. Therefore I was forced to make this particularly powerful statement. I do not see, for the life of me, any other reason for their reduction other than a personal vendetta from the Minister across the chamber and others because these people disagreed with them.

Mr Hird: I think that should be withdrawn.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order about this matter. I am sure that Mr Hargreaves will sit down while I am making the point of order.

MR HARGREAVES: Certainly.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, what Mr Hargreaves has just alleged, in effect, is that I, as Attorney-General, have perverted the duty that I owe to members of the community to deal impartially with them because of personal views that I hold on issues relating, presumably, to abortion. That is an allegation of corruption. It is most improper and I ask Mr Hargreaves to withdraw it.

MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I do not wish to have anybody think that any member of this Assembly is corrupt. I withdraw any suggestion or implication that there is corruption or that there is any graft. However, I do not withdraw my comments in this dissenting report, Mr Speaker. I believe them to be true.

MR SPEAKER: That is a matter that will be investigated.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I have to say that my concerns about that remain for that reason. I would ask you to look at that matter.

MR SPEAKER: Yes, I have undertaken to look at that matter.

Mr Osborne: The inference I got was that I too was the target of Mr Hargreaves' allegation, and I too wish to register my disappointment.

Mr Hird: And me.

Mr Osborne: The allegation was never raised within the committee hearings, Mr Speaker. I made it very clear to Mr Hargreaves that I accepted the Government's reasoning behind this. From memory, Mr Humphries said that it was done on advice from the department. I said that a number of times in the committee. Mr Hargreaves never once raised this allegation within the committee, which would have been the proper way to do it. So I too wish to register my disappointment.

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