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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (28 November) . . Page.. 3281 ..

Clause 50, as amended, agreed to.

Debate interrupted in accordance with standing order 74 and the resumption of the debate made an order of the day for a later hour.

MR MOORE (Minister for Health, Housing and Community Care): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a letter of clarification that I circulated earlier to members about a statement I made during the debate on disability services on 18 October.

Leave granted.

MR MOORE: I thank members.

MR STANHOPE: My question is to the Chief Minister. The Auditor-General's report into the Bruce Stadium redevelopment refers to legal advice to the effect that there were several breaches of the law involving the expenditure of unappropriated funds and overnight loans to balance the books. The auditor found that cabinet was kept informed and participated in decision-making through its consideration of nine cabinet submissions related to the project. Can the Chief Minister explain what legal advice he gave to the cabinet in his role as Attorney-General in relation to the unauthorised expenditure and the overnight loans? If he gave no legal advice to cabinet, why not?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Stanhope for my maiden question as Chief Minister. Really it relates to the Attorney-General anyway, so perhaps it was not my maiden question. Mr Speaker, I think this question has been covered before and I suspect that I will repeat the answer I have given before. It is not the usual course of action for the Attorney-General to table legal advice or give a legal opinion in the course of sitting in cabinet meetings. The Attorney-General will provide advice generally on legal issues in the nature of advice that comes off the cuff. In the present cabinet there are two lawyers and it is quite possible for two lawyers to give advice to cabinet on that basis.

In respect of the matters to which Mr Stanhope has referred regarding the Bruce Stadium redevelopment, there was no proposal put to cabinet that said, "We are proposing to conduct some overnight loans which are a bit shaky on the legality front. Can you give us some advice on this subject, please, Mr Attorney-General?" That obviously was never the case. Indeed, it was the intention of not only me as Attorney-General but of all the members of cabinet, including the then Chief Minister, that this process should be employed appropriately and that there should be, obviously, it goes without saying, a full operation within the spirit and letter of the law.

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