Page 4035 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 13 December 2006
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MR SESELJA: He has not mentioned one untrue claim. He referred to a couple of questions with which the Auditor-General then totally agreed. He could not find one statement by me in the Assembly where I said any of those things. Produce the statement, Simon!
Mr Corbell: You know that is not true; I did not say anything.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR SESELJA: Mr Corbell said to us today that we should not keep this government accountable and that we should not put it under pressure. I will not apologise for keeping this government under pressure. For the past few months this minister has had his head down throughout this process. He has felt the pressure and now he says, “I will get my revenge by using the Labor Party majority in the ACT Assembly.”
Mr Barr: You would not even stand up and ask a question yesterday.
MR SESELJA: This is a pathetic motion.
Mr Corbell: Why didn’t you ask a question yesterday, Zed?
MR SESELJA: Because I wanted to see the Auditor-General’s report.
MR SPEAKER: Order! I ask Mr Seselja to resume his seat. This is developing into a bit of a screaming match. I ask government members to maintain order. Mr Seselja has the call. I ask him to direct his comments through me.
MR SESELJA: Mr Corbell is saying to us, “Oppositions should not be asking hard questions.” He resents the scrutiny he has had and he resents the fact that the Chief Minister has started to lose confidence in him. This week his beloved Land Development Agency was bypassed for the first time. Transport planning was taken from him because he wanted to persist with the busway. Land release policy has been taken from this minister because he has not done the job.
So this very defensive minister has been under incredible pressure. He did not get what he wanted in the media today so he wants to try to distract attention from Mr Barr’s woes when he announces today how many schools will be closed. He wants to distract attention from what is in the report. In Mr Corbell’s earlier pathetic performance he failed to provide one statement that I made in this place that was inaccurate.
I will refer to a couple of issues Simon Corbell stated publicly that have been refuted in the Auditor-General’s report. Earlier this year during the estimates committee process Simon Corbell said that the bidders knew what they were buying and that it was clear to all parties what were the potential uses for the site. He went on to state:
All of the uses were very clearly spelt out to bidders before the auction occurred.
The Auditor-General had something to say about that. She said:
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