Page 466 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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directions committee of the Residents Rally, or I was before our recent general meeting.
A member: Another bit of plagiarising.
DR KINLOCH: I can assure you that there has been no endorsement of any candidate for any of the seats in the House of Representatives. Indeed, we have made no decision on that whatever. If Katharine West - she is a highly independent woman and she can make her own decisions - has decided to do something in that arena, that is entirely her decision. I think that the members of this Assembly would respect the right of anyone in this city, and someone who is a resident of this city and has been a resident of this city for many decades, to stand for whatever seat he or she wishes to.
On the question of plagiarism, I am very distressed indeed at that suggestion. I was part of a committee of three that looked at the first draft of our policy statement and I can give you the exact number of errors that we picked up in order to correct them. There were 73 drafting-type spelling errors, and then we redid it on the computer and reprinted it. So our small committee of three certainly looked at what was fresh, new material. I absolutely object to the notion that we plagiarised anything. I totally reject it. It is completely improper, and I can assure you that the environment policy in particular was a most carefully considered policy and Chris Donohue, our president, looked at that most carefully. I would certainly see him as one of the experts on environmental policy in the ACT, indeed if not in Australia. We have taken very great care on that matter.
We absolutely join with all parties who support environmental policies. I join with the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, the No Self Government Party and the Abolish Self Government Coalition in any of their attitudes towards the improvement of the environment. There need be no competition between us over these matters. I absolutely want to join with other people, and I do not think we should be out with the knives on this particular issue.
May I say something finally about the range of our members. We have members who were dissidents from both of the two major machine parties; we have independent members; we have people who have come to us who have never been political party members. I am sure it can be said that Residents Rally members, as members of all our parties, are all deeply concerned about the environment and will very much welcome Mr Moore's motion and indeed the support it has received this morning.
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health) (11.36): I rise to support Mr Moore's motion, but in so doing I would like to raise some issues which have been discussed in the course of this debate and to take issue with some of the points that have been raised by members of the Residents Rally party.
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