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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 773 ..

MR BERRY: I ask a supplementary question. Minister, how do your statements of support for Mr Flutter reconcile with the fact that the self-appointed deputy president or his friend - - -

Mrs Carnell: Mr Speaker, you asked for that to be withdrawn yesterday.

MR SPEAKER: The person has not been named. I presume you will not do that, Mr Berry. If you do, you will withdraw it.

MR BERRY: The so-called self-appointed deputy president, his friend - Mr Gilmour - or someone else in the Government asked Mr Flutter to resign. Minister, how do your statements of support for Mr Flutter reconcile with that? Minister, you are also on record as saying that Mr Flutter was unavailable, for some reason. Is it not true that he was at the ACTION head office as late as 4.30 pm yesterday?

MR KAINE: Mr Berry now seems to be alleging some inappropriate action on the part of one or more senior public servants. If he has any evidence of this, I would ask him to put it on the table so that it can be properly examined.

Mr Berry: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked how Mr Kaine reconciles his statements of support with him allowing Walker or Gilmour to ask Flutter to resign.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

MR KAINE: I have not allowed Mr Walker, in particular, to do anything. I repeat that, if Mr Berry has evidence of some inappropriate action on the part of senior officers, I challenge him to put the evidence on the table now. If he has no such evidence, then I suggest that this continued innuendo against me and senior officers of the ACT government service will rebound on him. It is unacceptable under any circumstances for members of the Opposition to level this kind of accusation against senior public servants, unless they are prepared to put their money where their mouth is and put the evidence on the table. That goes for you too, Mr Whitecross. One of these days, if you are dead lucky, you will be sitting on this side and you will have to account to those senior - - -

Mr Whitecross: Senior public servants complained on the front page of the Canberra Times and you did nothing.

MR SPEAKER: Order! You have asked a question, Mr Whitecross.

Mr Berry: I asked the question, Mr Speaker, in case you had not noticed.

MR SPEAKER: I was reminding Mr Whitecross that he had asked his question. So have you, Mr Berry.

MR KAINE: As to the last snide bit of Mr Berry's question as to where Mr Flutter was yesterday, I was informed that Mr Flutter was in Brisbane.

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