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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Thursday, 5 August 2004) . . Page.. 3488 ..

government addresses with the same alacrity as it addressed other matters those two matters to which I referred—the two recommendations that were qualified. I hope that we hear no more arguments about the front page of the Canberra Times—a newspaper that is doing its job. Just because an election is coming up Mr Quinlan wishes to stifle media criticism.

Mr Quinlan: Inaccuracy, yes, we do.

MR CORNWELL: In that case I suggest that he send a letter to the editor. That avenue is available to him, just as it is available to anybody else. By all means members should come into this chamber and put their points of view and we can then argue those points in public. But for Mr Hargreaves to stand up in this chamber and bucket responsible journalists I suggest—

Mr Quinlan: Do you agree with the content of that article?

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Cornwell has the floor.

Mr Quinlan: Is it right or wrong?

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Quinlan!

Mr Quinlan: Don’t you care? You don’t care.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR CORNWELL: To be perfectly honest, I thought there was a lot of sense in it. I thought it was legitimate information to be putting forward. The fact that it was on the front page must have distressed Mr Quinlan greatly. The truth of the matter is that the Canberra Times has a job to do. The journalist assigned to the ACT Assembly has a job to do and it was done, whether or not the minister likes it.

MS DUNDAS: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to speak again.

Leave granted.

MS DUNDAS: I wish to respond specifically to the Treasurer’s questions relating to the newspaper article and to ask him to correct the record. The article on page 1 of the Canberra Times states:

[There are] also statutory requirements under section 162, which is about reports of abuse and neglect. There is a requirement that the OCA be notified of that and the Community Advocate was critical of compliance with that requirement in the annual report.

That is a quote from the committee’s transcript of proceedings and it is something that was said by the chair.

Mr Quinlan: The chair?

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