Page 1861 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 June 2021

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Mrs Jones: Madam Speaker, I ask Mr Barr to withdraw the inference that he made across the chamber that Elizabeth Lee has never done anything with her life.

MADAM SPEAKER: One, it was not across the chamber because I did not hear it.

Mr Barr: I did not say that.

Mrs Jones: He inferred it.

Mr Barr: And Mrs Jones should withdraw. I said, “You have not done anything in government.”

Mrs Jones: That is not what you said.

Mr Barr: That is what I said.

Mrs Jones: You said she has not done anything. That is total nonsense.

Mr Barr: And then you jumped in before I could even finish saying, “in government”. And that accusation is unparliamentary. You cannot use a point of order to make an accusation like that.

Mrs Jones: I did not make a point of order. I said I asked the minister for her opinion. I did not make a point of order.

MADAM SPEAKER: Mrs Jones, enough! Sit down. I did not hear Mr Barr. I was trying to get both Mr Barr and Ms Lee to remain quiet because I was having difficulty hearing the minister respond to Mr Cain’s question. So let me see what I can hear on Hansard and if I can come back. But I certainly remind people, whether it is through supplementary questions or the argy-bargy across the chamber, to have aspect and regard for each other. With that, I will call Mr Cain.

MR CAIN: Minister, why do you think that more than 80 per cent of businesses voted against ChooseCBR by not bothering to participate?

MS CHEYNE: I reject the premise of the question. We had really good participation rates from businesses. I detailed this morning how excited businesses were to participate, including one particular business that Mr Cain talks about in here all of the time, which he has conveniently chosen to ignore. We had good participation rates, particularly for the size that the scheme was and particularly given that this was a one-off scheme. I absolutely reject the premise of that question.

DR PATERSON: Minister, can you outline why ChooseCBR was an important program for Canberra businesses?

MS CHEYNE: As I have noted, ChooseCBR was a business stimulus scheme. Its primary purpose was to stimulate spending in businesses. It had two aims: to get customers exploring more, visiting businesses that they might not have been aware of or otherwise spent their money with, and, when they were in store, to be spending


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