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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 6 Hansard (1 September) . . Page.. 1689 ..

MR BERRY (6.21): I heard Mr Humphries earlier on trying to characterise what I had said in relation to conflict of interest as dirt. This is not dirt. This is accountability. If the public believe the Chief Minister's largesse is related to election donations, there needs to be a process in place. I need say no more about that because I think my point has been well made. I am persistent on these issues, I know, but I think it is worth being persistent about them if the Government wishes to maintain its standing.

Ms Carnell: Just straight sleaze, Wayne.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell interjects, "Straight sleaze". I will lay it on you again, Mrs Carnell. Do you think it is okay to be the decision-maker and the recipient of political donations? Most people in the community would not.

Ms Carnell: Nobody has made a comment except you.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell says that nobody has made a comment except me. Not everybody is aware of the circumstances. It is up to you to make sure that these sorts of management problems are resolved. There are some quite interesting issues in the Government's response to the Estimates Committee report discussing the Woodies exhibition tennis match and clinic. The committee recommended that the Government establish protocols for purchasing and funding arrangements for public events. The Government, in their response, agreed, saying that protocols for funding public events have been established in CTEC. CTEC was not the problem. It was about how the decision was apparently made. There was a social gathering where the Woodies were purchased for $2,300. No doubt it was like the social gatherings that all of us have attended in the past where there are auctions. It is not really the right sort of atmosphere for decision-making when it comes to the expenditure of public funds. No doubt CTEC were leant on by the Government to come up with $23,000 later on. Six thousand dollars was found in Forests and $6,000 in Environment to fund this stunt. What we are saying is that this is a shemozzle and this is not the way to deal with public funding. If we are able to discover it here, where else is it happening?

It is quite a glib little government response. The Government agrees and says that CTEC have protocols in place. CTEC was not the problem. The protocols in CTEC were not the problem. The problem is the protocols for senior officers who get involved in this sort of thing at what could be best described as well-oiled social functions.

Other points to be made go to issues like Floriade. That will be discussed tomorrow, I know. The way the Government dealt with that was quite appalling. It was badly managed from the outset. Our famous festival runs the risk of being damaged by poor management.

Ms Carnell: By the Labor Party.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell interjects, "By the Labor Party". All of a sudden the devil is the one who exposes the frailties of the Government. The ones who are guilty are the ones who are guilty of the poor management. That is what scrutiny and accountability are about, Chief Minister, or have you not learnt yet? The fact of the matter is that Floriade runs the risk of being damaged because of mismanagement. All over the country it is still

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