Page 4321 - Week 14 - Thursday, 24 October 1991
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Mr Gerald Gold
MR STEVENSON (5.38): I take the opportunity to respond to Mr Moore's tabling last night of letters from Mr Gerald Gold. I think it is unfortunate that Mr Moore has not taken the opportunity at any time to speak to me about the matter; or to speak to Mr Gill, as I gave him the opportunity to do so.
This morning the Canberra Times - on the front page - mentioned that Mr Gill carried a letter from the internal investigations department of the Victorian police force indicating that he was a consultant. It also suggested that Mr Gold had said that Mr Gill believed that he was protected by a permanent confidentiality clause of the Costigan royal commission. Mr Gold has suggested that Mr Gill might have some form of parliamentary privilege by working for me. I am not sure what those last two comments relate to. I do not see that they particularly have any validity.
I think it is worthy of comment as well that the Canberra Times, while very, very sparsely reporting on anything that I have said in the Assembly, put this particular matter on the front page. I think it runs true to form with the Canberra Times.
I think it is worth mentioning briefly the matters that I have put on public record in this Assembly. I tabled a contract between an American organisation that has been named as being controlled by the Mafia and a porn company in Australia. At no time has anybody suggested - and indeed it is not - that that contract was not exactly what I said it was. I also tabled a number of documents regarding the liquidation of a company for tax purposes.
I tabled further documents regarding the dealings with pornography companies and certain crime controlled companies in America by a solicitor in Melbourne. I recall reading a newspaper article that mentioned that that particular solicitor had indeed gone to America to deal on behalf of someone who was in Victoria at the time and whom I had also previously named.
What the Canberra Times records of Mr Gold's letters seems to be, basically, invective against Mr Stuart Gill; over 10 words were used in calling Mr Gill names, fully reprinted by the Canberra Times. Mr Gold, in his letters, has said that I have told lies about what I have presented. That is absolutely untrue. Everything that I have presented has been presented in total good faith, from the best information that I could get. He has also suggested that there has been some conspiracy. That, also, is untrue.
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