Page 1404 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018
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MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (4.16): I wish to speak to what I consider the two major concerns presented to us today: the letter that was distributed by members of the Assembly and their attempt to interfere in the committee process by advocating one particular view, and the use of the have your say website constructed by the Canberra Liberals and its links to members of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
It is unfortunate that we must debate this topic, but it is important that we do. I know most members of the ACT Legislative Assembly take their responsibilities in the committee process very seriously. What I was not expecting, and what I expect most members were not expecting, was members outside of a committee entangling themselves in the affairs of another committee. The letter of Ms Lee and Miss Burch was an attempt to undermine, to interfere, to subvert the work of the committee, and they should know better.
I want to address an important point about the potential impact of their letter on the work of the committee. I do not know how many households were letterboxed with this material, but I do know a thing or two about letterboxing. You do not letterbox one house, one building or one street. When you letterbox, you letterbox a lot. At a minimum, you cover several postal areas, easily interacting with thousands of people.
The fundamental question is not how effective they were in their attempts to interfere measured by the numbers of letters, but the extent to which they attempted to interfere through the content of their letter. What exactly did Ms Lee and Miss Burch letterbox? How did they think to gain contributions to an Assembly inquiry? Here are some of my favourite quotes. The first is this: “In 2017-18, this ACT Labor/Greens government unfairly changed the methodology used to determine rates and land tax for apartments.” Another is: “This ACT Labor/Greens government took this action without a mandate.” Another is: If you are an owner or a tenant or just plain think this is unfair, we encourage you to make your submission to the inquiry at: haveyoursay.net.au.” Another is even better, my favourite:
Submissions do not have to be long, and can simply outline how higher rates and taxes have negatively impacted you or your family.
I think it is quite clear that both Ms Lee and Miss Burch have consciously sought to interfere with the work of the committee simply by their choice of words.
I wish to raise my concerns with the have your say website and its links into this building. This is not the public accounts committee’s website. This is the website of the Canberra Liberals. Further, this is the website of Mr Coe. He has authorised it; he is responsible for it. To add to this mess, he sits on the public accounts committee. It is worth pointing out a very simple fact in this matter: the Canberra Liberal Party, under the direct authorisation of Mr Coe, have set up the have your say web page for two reasons: one, to collect data on Canberra residents; and two, and more sinister, to influence the number and nature of submissions to the ACT Legislative Assembly’s committees.
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