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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 2984 ..

V8 Supercar Race-Criticism-Suggested Legal Action by CTEC

MR KAINE: My question, through you, Mr Speaker, is to the Chief Minister. I have heard of an article in the Canberra Times of today in which it is asserted that a government agency for which you are responsible, Chief Minister, the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation, has threatened legal action against an individual who had the temerity to be critical of the V8 car race. I do not see anything wrong with the car race; I have nothing against it. But I am grossly concerned at the notion that a government should use bullyboy tactics against a member of the public who questions the performance of the government on such a matter as this. I note that the Chief Minister was quoted by her spokesman as supporting CTEC in this action against Ms Rees, the person in this case. Chief Minister, is it now your government policy to threaten to sue any member of the public who criticises you or any of your agencies for what you do?

MS CARNELL: No, and it is not in this case either. I suggest that CTEC has every right to take the action that they have taken. CTEC obviously did not seek my approval to go down this path, but I back them up in doing so, because they have a responsibility to protect the good name of CTEC. That is one of the jobs of the board.

In this particular instance, Mr Speaker, it is very hard to suggest the person we are talking about is just a poor little member of the public. The person involved, as we know, spends an extraordinary amount of time in the media. She chooses to use the media, and has every right to do so. She presents herself as a public figure. She has even stood for this place. She has every right to do so, and she has every right to criticise. What she does not have a right to do is to make comments that would appear to be defamatory, just as I do not have a right to do that and Mr Kaine does not have a right to do that. If anybody in this place made the same comments about the person involved as she is purported to have made about CTEC and the board, I suggest that we would have been in court before we could have blinked.

It is appropriate for everybody, whether people here or members of the public, to respect the rights of others and not to make defamatory comments. Criticism is fine, but suggesting that people cooked the books! The board of CTEC has every right, in fact a responsibility, to protect the good name of the organisation.

MR KAINE: I ask a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Since the Chief Minister clearly does support this kind of action by her agencies, and since she talks about statements purporting to be defamatory, will the Chief Minister satisfy the public mind as to whether or not they were defamatory and put on the table in this place all of the documents in the possession of the government and its agencies relating to the calculation of costs of the V8 supercar event so that we can all see them and find out whether the statements were defamatory or not?

MS CARNELL: The comments that were made were nothing to do with the issues Mr Kaine brings up right now. I make the point again that if members of the public or members of this place-

Mr Berry: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I think Mr Kaine asked the Chief Minister whether she would make available all those documents.

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