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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (25 August) . . Page.. 1287 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: All right. You did not quote from this document.

Mr Stanhope: I do not believe I did.

MR HUMPHRIES: You quoted from another document dated 18 May. This is dated 18 May as well and Ms Pegrum is referred to. Are you sure it is not the same document?

Mr Stanhope: No, it is not, Minister.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Stanhope was referring to another document.

Mr Stanhope: I do not believe it was, Minister. I do not believe I quoted from it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Well, go back and check, Mr Stanhope. This document of 18 May does quote Ms Pegrum. It is the minutes of the project control group and it says:

Annabelle Pegrum advised that two of the three leases had in fact been withdrawn in 1991 and 1992. This left only one-third of the property, block 630, held on lease by the Bolton family.

Interestingly, the next sentence reads:

John Harris indicated that they were unaware the leases had been withdrawn.

This is the solicitor who acts for Mr Whitcombe saying on 18 May he was not aware that the leases had been withdrawn.

Mr Stanhope: What did Ms Pegrum think of that, Minister? What did Ms Pegrum think of Mr Harris's advice?

MR HUMPHRIES: There are a number of things that she goes on to say about that. She may well have indicated that she disagreed with that particular view, but Mr Harris indicated at that meeting that he was not aware the leases had been withdrawn and at that meeting, clearly, Ms Pegrum was aware. Mr Speaker, this is evidence. I will concede, for the sake of the argument from the Opposition, that here is evidence that a senior public servant in the Carnell Government was aware on 18 May that there was only one lease and not three. A person with the seniority to be able to go into the Chief Minister's office or into the office of the ex-Minister for Planning, as I then was, or the present Minister for planning, as Mr Smyth was and is, could go into those offices and say, "Listen, I have discovered there is a serious flaw with this particular proposal that you should know about". Mr Speaker, that was 18 May. On 19 May - the very next day, probably less than 24 hours later - Ms Carnell came into this house and said:

Whereas the developer believed that he was bringing three leases to the table, it turned out that two of those leases had already been returned to government some six years ago. The full implications of this are now being examined by both the Government and the developer involved ...

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