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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1475 ..

This is where we have to look at the motivations of the members opposite. They are quite happy to accept part but not all of that recommendation, and I would submit, Mr Speaker, that they are doing this for fairly base political reasons. And that, I think, goes to the discomfort that the government finds in having a Liberal member chairing an important committee like the planning and environment committee.

The planning and environment committee has brought down a number of reports—27-odd or something like that. All of those reports have been unanimous. Almost all of those have been critical of the planning processes in the ACT and have made recommendations for improving the planning processes in some way, shape or other, and therefore, I suppose, they are critical of the planning minister and the government in general. My experience has been that the government is discomfited because of the independence and the forthrightness of the planning and environment committee.

We need to question today the motivation of the government in moving—let us put it bluntly—to take further action against me, contrary to the recommendation of the Select Committee on Privileges. Is it because they see this as an opportunity to basically pull in the sails a bit of the planning and environment committee, to somehow nobble the planning and environment committee in one way or another.

Is this an attempt to impinge on the privileges of the planning and environment committee by attempting to curtail the independence of the members of that committee? I am not sure, because I cannot go to the motivations of all those people opposite who seem to have thought it was a good idea to take further action against me in spite of the recommendations of the select committee set up by this place.

We have to seriously question what is happening. Is there a conflict of interest between the operation of the government on this occasion and the operation of the planning and environment committee? Does the planning and environment committee cause sufficient discomfort to the government that they would want to curtail its operations?

There are a number of critical inquiries coming up before the planning and environment committee that go to the heart of the administration of planning in the ACT, some of which could potentially be severely embarrassing for the government and the planning minister in particular. They are matters of considerable public discontent and we have to ask the question: in doing this today, is the government trying to nobble the members of the planning and environment committee? These are very important issues.

It is not about ego and reputation as an individual member because my reputation as an individual member will be determined by the voters on 16 October. My reputation as an individual member has been damaged—and I admit that—by an adverse finding of the Select Committee on Privileges, and that is of particular personal regret and sorrow for me. It also is a reflection upon my colleagues, I suppose, because they put their faith in me and I have let them down. It is a reflection upon all of us here because members in this place put faith in me and I have let them down. Members of the community put faith in me and they could perceive that I have let them down. But I have tried on all occasions.

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