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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (28 June) . . Page.. 2144 ..
MR KAINE
(continuing):Chief Minister, yesterday you tabled a kilogram of paper which purports to be a visit report and which, in the government's draft program for this week, was, I presume laughingly, described as Geoff Harris' travel report. I describe it in those terms, Chief Minister, because there is nothing in this wad of documents that in any way constitutes a report on anything. It is a kilogram of rubbish. It is a kilogram of documents that any office boy could have picked up from any of the organisations that are referred to in here by going and knocking on the door and saying, "Can you give me a bit of information about something?" Nowhere does it even mention the fact that Mr Harris was there. It does not say anything about whom Mr Harris had discussions with.
Mr Wood
: Did he write anything in there?MR KAINE
: The title on the front says Report on Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Study Mission 'Innovation and Convergence' to Israel and the United States-March 2000. Since you had such great faith in Mr Harris' ability to represent this government, to represent you and to report back to this Assembly, I have to ask, Chief Minister: when is he going to do it?I ask you specifically, Chief Minister: what were the objectives of the study trip and to what extent were the objectives achieved? How is the involvement of a media adviser in such a tour intended to benefit the government and the territory? What information did the media adviser submit to you that would justify his inclusion in this tour? As the individual concerned is reportedly leaving your employment, how can any knowledge gained by him be expected to benefit the government in the longer term? Given the individual's impending departure, was this so-called business tour a justified expenditure of $12,628 of the ACT taxpayers' money because this document does not demonstrate any of that? It is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace.
MS CARNELL
: Mr Speaker, I actually think that it does. I think that if Mr Kaine had bothered to read it he would have seen that. I have not counted the number of pages of actual report in amongst all of the others, but there are about 20 or so, I think. The information that Mr Harris has given to me in verbal reports in support of a number of innovation projects we are involved with has been very important. I think it is really important to remember who else went on this trip. Kate Lundy was there. There were a number of others who were-Mr Kaine
: I am not interested in Kate Lundy; I am interested in your representative who spent $12,500 of public money.MS CARNELL
: I can understand that Mr Kaine is jealous, Mr Speaker. I think that is all it could be here, because the reality is-Mr Quinlan
: He probably had more cause to go than Mr Harris. You can understand him being jealous.MS CARNELL
: On technology?Mr Quinlan
: Yes.
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