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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (11 November) . . Page.. 3942 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

I should also add that Mr Knop has been very instrumental in bringing business to the Hotel Kurrajong through his consistent recommendations of the property to personal and business associates in Canberra, Sydney and beyond.

The letter is signed by Professor Michael Conlin.

Mr Knop has also willingly provided me with copies of at least eight separate invoices which have been paid by him to the Hotel School. These invoices total some $6,887 that Mr Knop has paid for accommodation, functions and other expenses. In other words, Mr Knop himself has paid. I am not prepared to table these invoices as I, for one, would regard that as an incredible invasion of privacy; but I am prepared to show these invoices to those opposite, or to any member, for that matter, if they are interested. What Professor Conlin's letter and Mr Knop's invoices show is that there is absolutely no basis for the inferences that Ms McRae and, I think, in this debate, Mr Berry are making. I would ask both of those members opposite to consider offering an apology on this issue - - -

Mr Berry: If you are going to mention them, table them.

MRS CARNELL: You can see them, if you want to. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, what we are seeing from Mr Berry now, and certainly from Ms McRae in question time, is an unwarranted attack on somebody's honesty, on the way he conducts business - somebody about whom they have no evidence whatsoever to indicate that he is anything but, I think, one of the best corporate citizens that you could ever ask for in these sorts of situations. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, these sorts of insinuations have been found not only to be - - -

Mr Berry: For $35,000 worth of verbal advice, I would be a good corporate citizen.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

MRS CARNELL: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, Mr Berry's attack on this person, with no evidence, is unacceptable. There needs to be an apology right now. Those opposite, when they were in government, had a number of consultants that were paid for verbal advice. It is normal business practice. But the bottom line here is that Ms McRae's question in question time and the interjections that Mr Berry has made are offensive and they are baseless. The very least that those opposite can do now is apologise or, alternatively, put up. But they are not doing that. They are just running down a good corporate citizen. Let us see an apology.

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