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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3296 ..

MR BERRY: My question is to the Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Mrs Carnell. I have in my hand, Mr Speaker, a medicine described as "Kate Carnell's Cough and Cold Mixture". It was purchased this morning at the Red Hill Pharmacy in Red Hill. Mrs Carnell, is it not clearly a conflict of interest for you, as Chief Minister and as Health Minister, to market this product in this way?

MRS CARNELL: I am very happy to do an advertisement here, Mr Speaker, but I do not think it is terribly appropriate. It is actually a very good cough mixture, Mr Speaker. I think those opposite, particularly Mr Berry, are amazingly hypocritical on this thing. Those opposite come in here and say, "No expansion of poker machines. We cannot possibly allow poker machines to go into - - -

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, relevance. I do not know what poker machines have to do with conflict of interest.

MR SPEAKER: She is coming to the point.

MRS CARNELL: This is absolutely relevant, Mr Speaker. I will get around to it. Those opposite say, "We could not possibly give hotels and taverns poker machines". Why, Mr Speaker? Because they are in the Labor Club, Mr Speaker.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, all she has to do is answer. Is it a conflict of interest? Yes or no.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, it is because they are in the Labor Club, from which those opposite get a significant amount of their funding. The point, Mr Speaker, is that, if every single activity that any of us is involved in were a conflict of interest, nobody would be able to sit in this place. If Mr Berry spoke about anything to do with the union movement he could not sit in this place, and so on. Our code of ethics requires me to have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of my business, which I do not have, Mr Speaker. One of the things I do have is an in-depth and good knowledge of small business in this city because, Mr Speaker, I have run one for most of my life. When I was elected to this place I was elected as a small business operator, and I am proud of it.

MR BERRY: I have a supplementary question. Is not your labelling of this product as "Kate Carnell's Cough and Cold Mixture" misleading when it is registered by Nelson Laboratories in the name of "New Formula Prodelix"? Would you consider handing it over to Gary Humphries?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, it is a quite normal procedure in pharmacy, you will find, for pharmacists to choose a brand of cough mixture that they believe is a good formulation and market it in such a way. I think most pharmacies in Canberra would have a similar approach.

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