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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (9 May) . . Page.. 1292 ..

Mr Humphries: That is it, attack community groups. That sounds good. Keep going.

MR STANHOPE: I will. I have read the transcript and I think Mr Gower will also need to read it. I think every member of this Assembly needs to read Mr Gower's evidence in the transcript and then compare it with his press release and draw a few conclusions. I do not know how a witness before an Assembly inquiry can give one version of events and then turn around immediately and provide another. This is a serious issue for the Assembly to address. I will not labour the point, other than to say that the comments attributed by Mr Gower to me are simply untrue and I regret that Mr Gower felt the need to make them.

I wish to raise another matter, Mr Speaker. I want to provide some assistance to you in relation to the question, and the implications raised in the question, that you have taken on notice. Mr Hird asked whether or not my chief of staff had access to my travel funds in travelling to Burnie for a Labor leaders conference.

Ms Carnell: Study funds.

MR STANHOPE: Study funds, that is right. He did not. In fact, I and the chief of my staff flew to Burnie as a guest of Mr John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, and Mr John Moore, the Minister for Defence. We actually went in a VIP aircraft in company with Kim Beazley. I thank John Howard and your federal Liberal colleagues and admire their generosity for allowing me to travel to Burnie on a VIP aircraft. I really am incredibly grateful that John Howard has some of the generosity of spirit and graciousness that is lacking in his colleagues across the Assembly.

Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I think this is going beyond a personal explanation.

MR STANHOPE: I did enjoy the trip to Burnie on the VIP aircraft.

MR SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order here.

MR STANHOPE: We were provided with breakfast, and I would like to thank Mr Howard for the breakfast that he provided to my chief of staff and me.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Stanhope, would you resume your seat.

Mr Humphries: I am glad that we found out Mr Stanhope's breakfast arrangements, Mr Speaker. But this is not a personal explanation any longer. It is a panegyric for Mr Howard perhaps, but it is not a personal explanation.

MR SPEAKER: We have flown by on that one. Please, Mr Stanhope, just come back.

MR STANHOPE: Most certainly. So that is how I got to Burnie for the Labor leaders conference. It was an important conference which was chaired by Mr Kim Beazley, the Leader of the Opposition. It was attended by every Labor leader in Australia, including four state premiers. And, of course, there was much comment about the fact that at this stage there are four state leaders and we were anticipating that within 16 to 20 months there probably will be eight or nine.

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