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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (17 April) . . Page.. 1002 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I have six statutory declarations of delegates that were involved in the meetings in which they swear that $65 was offered on their base rate of pay. That has now been reneged upon. I seek leave to table those statutory declarations.

Leave granted.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I now put the question to Mrs Carnell - - -

MR SPEAKER: And about time.

MR BERRY: Will you now sign the agreement with the HSUA under the terms originally agreed, or will you continue with this doublespeak?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that some people involved in the HSUA misunderstood the issues that were put on the table. Certainly, there has been a misunderstanding; but Mr Berry might like to go back to the HSUA delegates and ask them whether I told them categorically that 10.1 was the - - -

Mr Berry: You told them $65 on the base rate.

MRS CARNELL: No; I did not tell them $65, Mr Berry. I never mentioned that figure. We told them categorically that this was the top; yes, we were happy to go to a flat rate; that would have to be worked out; but it had to be within the bottom line. This is not from somebody else. This is not, as it is for you, second- and third-hand. I was there. They know. We told them that it had to be within the current budget projections. Categorically, they knew that. They then knew that the $65 figure was not on base rates, Mr Speaker.

MR HIRD: Mr Speaker, I direct a question to the Minister for Urban Services, Mr De Domenico. Can the Minister comment on remarks made by the current Opposition Leader last weekend that the reintroduction of vehicle registration concessions announced by the Government discriminated against small business? Is this the case?

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Mr Hird for his question. Mr Speaker, I am aware that, yet again, Mr Whitecross has got it totally wrong and has proved that he is out of touch on virtually every issue he cares to comment on - including ALP politics, I might say. Last week, the Government did announce that farmer concessions for vehicle registration will be reintroduced in the ACT from 1 July 1996. The concession forms part of a Liberal commitment to restore concessional registration fees for farm vehicles, after they were scrapped in 1993 as a result of the previous Labor Government's review of ACT government concessions. So, Mr Speaker, once again the Liberal Party has delivered on an election promise.

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