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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 10 Hansard (18 October) . . Page.. 3144 ..

Mr Moore: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Whenever we speak we must be relevant. What Mr Stanhope has already said indicates that he is speaking to a no-confidence motion. This is not a no confidence motion. We are talking about the election of a Chief Minister, not who has gone.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Stanhope, whilst you may develop an argument for your own candidature, I would ask you to be aware of the matter that we are discussing, which is a proposal to elect a new Chief Minister, not any other matter.

MR STANHOPE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Assembly's determination to hold Mrs Carnell to account may have been a crisis for her but it has not been a crisis for the Assembly or the community. The ACT (Self-Government) Act, our constitution, provides the mechanisms to resolve these issues and the process is clear. This clarity has been missing at times over the last 15 months or so. It was first lost, for instance, when Mr Moore and other ministers declared that they would not accept nomination as Chief Minister. That declaration persisted until yesterday, when it disappeared in a flash.

Clarity was missing as late as Friday when Mr Osborne introduced another apparently new standard to ACT politics. He proposed, in concert with the government, that we have an early election. That proposal required amendment of the Electoral Act and seriously compromised our constitutional arrangements. As always, anything old is new again.

That deal evaporated yesterday when Mrs Carnell and Mr Osborne found a late developing concern for the stability of our system of government. Anyone with a concern for our system of government, and standards new or old, would not have made that suggestion in the first place and would not have waited for the storm of public protest before withdrawing it.

Mr Speaker, I am standing for election as Chief Minister because I have the capacity to do the job properly. I will be supported by a cabinet of capacity. As Chief Minister I will restore faith in the processes of government. I will rebuild the public service and restore its confidence, and restore the confidence of the public in the public service. Mr Speaker, I will restore the integrity of our decision-making process and make government open and accountable. I ask the Assembly for its support in this ballot.

Mr Moore: Mr Speaker, under standing order 46, I wish to make a personal explanation. Mr Stanhope, at the beginning of his speech, raised the issue that in some way I had refused nomination as Chief Minister. Mr Speaker, I have never been nominated and I have never refused nomination. It is an inaccuracy from the man who talks about integrity.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I also wish to speak to the matter of my candidature for this position. I will not take my full five minutes. Yesterday I was honoured to be chosen by my colleagues in the Liberal Party room and elected leader of the Liberal Party of the ACT. I thank those members for that confidence. As the leader of the party which was endorsed overwhelmingly at the last election to be the government of the ACT, I offer myself as a candidate for Chief Minister at this time. I ask for the support of members to respect not only the decision taken by the Liberal Party room yesterday but also the decision taken by the electors of the ACT at the last election.

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