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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2692 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Could you please advise me, as a matter of urgency, what action you have taken to arrange payment or part-payment ...

If you ask the question, "When did you stop beating your wife?" it presupposes that you are beating your wife. When you ask, "When do you intend to make a payment?" it presupposes that you will make a payment.

Mr Stanhope: Just apologise.

MR HUMPHRIES: I do not apologise, and I do not regret saying, as I said in my statement yesterday, that you did urge me to make an immediate payment. The payment you were suggesting was certainly immediate. You used the words "as a matter of urgency". I said "immediate". Same difference. You said, "What action will you take to make the payment?" I said that you urged me to make an immediate payment to the complainant. In my view, those words are close enough to represent the intention of Mr Stanhope's letter.

Mr Stanhope having made that point, I arranged for him to be briefed by the Government Solicitor, who was vocally of the view that the payment was inappropriate and that there should be an appeal against the decision, although at that stage there were no reasons for the decision available from the judge. Aware of the caretaker convention, I wrote to Mr Stanhope a few days later, after we had had the briefing, and I said:

I am keen to know if, after having received this briefing, it remains your view that the government should expedite payment for the defendant.

I summarised that as your position. If you believed that I had misrepresented your opinion, you presumably would have written back to me saying, "I have not urged that you should make payment to the defendant." But you did not do that, Mr Stanhope. Instead of repeating your earlier comments, wanting to know when I was going to make immediate payment to this poor woman, you simply said:

The Chief Solicitor has advised me why he would wish at this time to withhold payment.

In an act of great bravery and courage, in the face of the advice, you said:

I offer no comment on the merits of that approach.

Mr Stanhope: I was not the Chief Minister or the Attorney-General then, Mr Humphries.

MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, but you were the leader of the alternative government, and I was asking you what you thought I should do about making that payment.

Mr Stanhope: You wanted me to take the decision for you.

MR HUMPHRIES: I was entitled to ask you what your view was, because you were the alternative Chief Minister before an election.

Mr Stanhope: The caretaker convention did not apply.

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