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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2572 ..
MR STANHOPE
(continuing):I congratulate the ACT government and thank Mr Stefaniak for giving me the opportunity to draw the attention of members to just how well the ACT economy and the ACT government is performing.
MR STEFANIAK
: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Chief Minister, you said this morning:I don't recall ever saying that the prospect of the ACT being put off or deterred from developing a prison was related to the cost of the facility.
Why did you say that when, even now, you are admitting that you did talk about fires and $55 million earlier? Why did you make that comment this morning ?
MR STANHOPE
: I thought I had just explained that.Mr Pratt
: Do it again, Chief Minister! Tell us about the economy. Tell us about Fujitsu.MR STANHOPE
: Now that you have reminded me, I think I will. In talking about the state of the economy, we might have been able to move faster towards the development of a prison if it had not been for the $3 million thrown down the drain on Fujitsu and the $1,500,000-this is now the topic of the week. It is Fujitsu this week and it was FAI last week.Mr Smyth
: I wish to raise a point of order. Mr Speaker, earlier this week, you ruled out a comment on a previous Auditor-General's report because it was going to the Public Accounts Committee. I wonder whether or not it is appropriate for the Chief Minister to discuss this.Mr Hargreaves
: No, it was in the paper. It is a newspaper article to which you are referring, isn't it?MR SPEAKER
: Order, Mr Hargreaves! I think the Chief Minister was referring to the front page of the Canberra Times this morning-or a report in the Canberra Times.Mr Smyth
: In that case, it would be out of order, under the standing order of relevance, because the question was not about Fujitsu or the Canberra Times-it was about his apparent memory loss, back-flip and policy on the run over the prison.MR SPEAKER
: It is about context. Mr Stefaniak did mention the cost of the fires. The Chief Minister is entitled to refer to other costs as well.MR STANHOPE
: I will conclude, Mr Speaker. It is appropriate that we dwell on the waste which continues to be revealed, even a couple of years after the Liberals left. We have now discovered $3 million poured down the drain on Fujitsu.I encourage all members to read yesterday's Auditor-General's report on Fujitsu. We need to remind ourselves that three members of that government sit here-two of them were in the cabinet at the time.
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