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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 6 Hansard (15 June) . . Page.. 1904 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

The one thing I have always felt about the two leaders, Mr Humphries and Mr Stanhope-I disagree with both of them at different times-is that they are both reasonably honest, decent blokes. But at some stage both of them are going to have look at themselves in the mirror and ask what their motivation for this is. The reality is that their motivation is to hide things.

I am really disappointed. I had felt, given what has happened over the last few years, that this Assembly was moving towards more openness. We all rushed to get legislation onto the table about government contracts, freedom of information and all those types of things. I thought we had all learnt from the mistakes of the past, and I was quite excited that we were unanimously moving towards a point in time in this Assembly where there would be no more secret deals and everything would be out in the open. But when push comes to shove, on these types of issues the two major parties always work together to cover their backsides. It has been a grubby attempt at covering up and hiding.

The question I have of the two leaders is: what are you afraid of? Are you afraid to tell the people out there who has donated money to you? What are you trying to hide? I will not talk too much tonight. I just wanted to make the point that, at some stage, maybe at 4 o'clock in the morning, Mr Stanhope or Mr Humphries will wake up, lying in bed with their conscience. They are going to have to answer questions about the motivation for this.

It is a regrettable step that we are taking as an Assembly. It is going to happen. There is going to be a huge loophole. People will be able to make donations of hundreds and thousands of dollars and not have to declare them. No-one will know in the future whether the money given to you has had a bearing on decisions that you have made. It is a terrible disappointment to us. If any of you were to speak to the five non-major party people, that would be the main thing. We are all angry, and we have all said things. But I think we are all genuinely disappointed because there is this huge loophole that someone will try to exploit.

We have been through so much in this place, especially over the last three years with Bruce Stadium and those types of things. I thought the tide was turning and we were moving towards openness, not towards grubby, stinky, little backroom deals like this. It reminds me of a Colombian drug lord laundering money. Who knows what type of money can go in and come out nice and clean at the other end on advertising, ballot papers or whatever.

It is disappointing for the people who have been in this place for a lot of years. Mr Kaine and Mr Moore have been here from the start and have lived through the ridicule this Assembly has copped. There has been a general move towards acceptance because we have had to prove ourselves as an Assembly. But this type of thing really is a huge backward step. At the end of the day, I really believe that the people of the ACT will see it for what it is. The two major parties may think they have pulled off this enormous coup, but the people of the ACT will see it for what it is. It is an attempt to hide, an attempt to cover up, an attempt not to be honest. I am disappointed in the two party leaders that they have allowed this to happen.

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