Page 1796 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 8 June 2022
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If this was so serious, why did she not bring this motion on yesterday? It is because she knows that the CIT operates at arm’s length from government.
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Ms Lee and others.
MR GENTLEMAN: Given her legal background, she should be aware that CIT was created by this place and has been vested with a governing board, making CIT different from directorates. Ms Lee knows this because she moved a motion yesterday asking for an independent audit of the CIT procurements in question. We also know that this is a stunt because, instead of giving notice yesterday, Ms Lee waited for the chamber to rise and then told the media about today’s stunt.
Let us be clear: Minister Steel has acted on the information that he received and on the information over time. He has already asked CIT to do better and, when he became aware of the latest contract, he asked further questions on decisions taken at arm’s length from him and the government. Yesterday Minister Steel acted in this place to draw this matter to the attention of the Auditor-General, and that was the right thing to do. There are independent bodies such as the Auditor-General that are better placed to undertake a thorough look at these kinds of matters. The Auditor-General has done this in the past.
If Ms Lee was serious and cared about this issue she would have raised this directly with these bodies. Instead she chose politics. She chose to go to the media first. She chose to muckrake and smear a good minister who had no role in the procurement in question. The stunt is getting in the way of important government business. It is no surprise that, like her predecessors, Ms Lee does not want to improve outcomes for kids, does not care about infrastructure to improve our city—
Ms Lee: What?
MR GENTLEMAN: This is on the program for today. She opposes improvements to leave entitlements for Canberrans and does not support better regulation for business.
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Resume your seat, please. Members, every one of the opposition—
Ms Lee interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Ms Lee, every one of the opposition that has spoken has been heard in silence. I would expect the same respect for those from the government benches.
Ms Lee interjecting—
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