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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1477 ..

Mr Smyth: Backing a different horse, are we?

Mrs Burke: Who else would you be nominating?

MR HARGREAVES: I have never indicated that I would be and I am just putting it on the record to make sure people do not misconstrue my position. I would also like to say that I think my colleagues Mrs Cross and Ms MacDonald said to me in relation to this whole thing, “Mrs Dunne just doesn’t get it, just doesn’t get it.” This is not about the Aldi issue: this is about propriety in this place; this is about upholding parliamentary procedure; this is about the responsibilities of the chair of the committee not to bring that committee and the parliament into disrepute.

Mr Speaker, I believe that Mrs Dunne showed a contempt at the privileges committee hearing by putting out her vindication press release which, in effect, said, “I was right all along.” Well, the privileges committee had not concluded whether she was right or wrong and, indeed, when they did conclude, they found that a serious contempt had been made.

She also asked: is the government trying to nobble members of the planning and environment committee? Mr Speaker, I do not think I have a reputation within any of the committees upon which I serve for necessarily advocating a strict government line. I think, in fact, that the suggestion that a committee might be nobbled by me on behalf of the government is somewhat offensive.

Mr Wood: Yes, you’ve been a nuisance.

MR HARGREAVES: I have. My colleague Mr Wood indicates that I have been a nuisance. That is something I will wear as a badge of honour, and I appreciate your comments, Mr Wood.

The comments by Mr Hannaford in yesterday’s Canberra Times that Mrs Dunne had been found to be in contempt of the Legislative Assembly for abusing her position as the chairwoman of the committee just about encapsulates what I am talking about. The Aldi issue is neither here nor there. She felt that she could use the political system as a political tool, and members would know that I have been vehemently opposed to this sort of thing since the day I became whip in this place. I have tried to take the politics out of the committees and I object strongly that politics have been used.

Mr Speaker, Mrs Dunne is reported in the Canberra Times as saying a number of things. She said on Tuesday that she had simply been trying to inform the public of the issue and had no intention of steering the direction of an outcome. The privileges committee indicated clearly in its report how it regarded that. The committee’s finding at paragraph 5.1 on page 15 states:

The committee is of the view that the distribution of the leaflet was “likely to amount to an improper interference ...

The committee said that this interference was serious; that there was a clear intent shown by the chair to create this interference; that there was an interference, it was serious and

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