Page 1979 - Week 05 - Thursday, 5 May 2011

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Appendix 1

CITIZEN’S RIGHT OF REPLY: RESPONSE BY MR ERNEST HOCKING AGREED TO BY MR ERNEST HOCKING AND THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION AND PROCEDURE PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 7(B) OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF
4 MAY 1995, AS AMENDED 6 MARCH 2008.

I seek redress for comments made in the Legislative Assembly (LA) on 18 November 2010 by the Chief Minister, Mr Jon Stanhope, in relation to a demolition at the Glenloch interchange on Saturday 13 November 2010.

My concern is that the Chief Minister, under privilege, made comments that that were factually incorrect, appeared uninformed in relation to a statement that I made to Mr Tony Gill, Director, ACT Roads, and were made in manner that portrayed me as reckless and irresponsible.

The original incident occurred on the morning of 13 November 2010. The details of my involvement in the incident are documented in a statutory declaration submitted to the Chief Minister, and the Speaker of the LA. In that declaration I set out the events, and the times at which they occurred. I was concerned with the lack of safety and made immediate contact with the ACT Government, via Canberra Connect, and subsequently with Mr Gill, Head of ACT Roads and described the events in detail. The matter was reported, inaccurately, in the Canberra Times on Sunday 14 November. I made contact with the Canberra Times to correct this. The Canberra Times published a further article, using this extra material, on Tuesday 16 November.

The Chief Minister commented on the matter in the LA on 18 November 2010 in response to a question by Mr Doszpot. My identity as the walker/jogger referred to by the Chief Minister was known to the Canberra community as it had been published in the Canberra Times.

My reasons for seeking a right of reply relate to the Chief Minister’s response:

1. The Chief Minster’s statement appeared to be uninformed of my statement to Mr Gill in which I had expressed concerns about the


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