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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4409 ..

MR CORNWELL: How will the government respond to the implications flowing from this disagreement, this qualification of the territory's financial statements? We are talking about the operating results and the financial position, not superannuation.

MR QUINLAN: You do not know it, Mr Cornwell, but you are talking about superannuation and the government will respond, I think with great difficulty, by communicating this difference to the general public, because it does make a significant difference to the bottom line and therefore, by implication, makes a material difference to bottom lines past.

We have seen quite erroneous statements made about bottom lines in this place and outside this place over years. My great lament, as we all know, is that very seldom in this place have we gotten any in-depth analysis of the actual reporting of the ACT and its budget. We tend to just take the bottom line. It is quoted and flung around. Unfortunately, Mr Cornwell, I have to say that the way you asked that question probably means that, as a group, we possibly deserve not to have that depth of analysis when we do not even understand it ourselves.

ACT Housing-fire safety

MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Treasurer. Mr Quinlan, on what date did you become aware of the need for additional expenditure in relation to fire safety in ACT Housing's multiunit complexes?

MR QUINLAN: The same old question. My answer falls into roughly the same zone as Mr Stanhope's inasmuch as-

Mr Humphries: Which was very rough to begin with.

MR QUINLAN: His memory was not detailed. He may go through his diary and find it. I will not go through my diary and find it, because I do not keep a diary which says, "Dear diary, on this day I discovered the following."I do not do that. As Mr Stanhope indicated in the questioning of him, there is documentary evidence. One of the underlying problems that are coming up in the line of questions relates to when did we know that this was happening and when was it advised. While I am on my feet-

Mr Humphries: The sort of question you asked over Bruce Stadium.

MR QUINLAN: Excuse me. While I am on my feet, I do owe Ms Dundas an apology inasmuch as Ms Dundas asked about this matter some months ago and I did answer her question rather flippantly because I did not pick up one date in that. As far as I know now, not back then, in about June 2000-is that right?-some deficiencies were identified in the fire safety of public housing. Since that time, there have been a series of audits occurring.

It is not my portfolio. You were asking me what I knew. This is what I know and I am not guaranteeing it. So far as I know, during the interim from June 2000 until recent times, there has been a series of audits being done and, each time one of those audits is

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