Page 2630 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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MS FITZHARRIS: No, and that has not occurred, to my knowledge.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Ms Lawder.
MS LAWDER: Minister, do you categorically deny that any public servant, including you and your office, has told people associated with the consortium that requests for meetings must be approved by the minister?
MS FITZHARRIS: I do. Certainly, if the request were to come through me—I am not aware of any request coming through me or my office—I would consider that and facilitate that meeting, as we do on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis for members of the opposition with directorates, but this is a—
Mr Coe: Point of order, Madam Speaker—
MADAM SPEAKER: Point of order—
Mr Coe: on relevance.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Coe on a point of order.
Mr Coe: The question was: do you categorically deny that people associated with the consortium have been told that meetings must be approved by the minister?
Mr Corbell: On the point of order, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell on the point of order.
Mr Corbell: The first part of Ms Fitzharris’s answer was, “I do.” She is now elaborating on her answer. So I think that she is remaining directly relevant.
MADAM SPEAKER: I think that Ms Fitzharris may have said that but I am sure members can check the record. I do not think I will uphold the point of order in relation to relevance. Ms Fitzharris.
MS FITZHARRIS: As I said, I and my office frequently facilitate meetings by members of the opposition with public officials. In this case, of course, the opposition are free to contact the consortium directly. I have been aware of previous occasions where this has happened. If they were to ask me, through my office, to facilitate a meeting I would be happy to facilitate that request. I am not aware of any official who has said that members of the Canberra Metro consortium should not meet with the opposition.
Budget—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives
MS BURCH: My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. Can the minister outline the 2016-17 budget initiatives and how they relate to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement for 2015-18.
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