Mrs HICKEY - 1996-10-15
The Chief Minister must be aware that the former Assistant Treasurer, Senator Jim Short, resigned because of his apparent conflict of interest. The Chief Minister is regularly involved in making decisions that may benefit Telstra. Will the Chief Minister now admit that, by accepting the $20 000 Olympic gift from Telstra, he too has an apparent conflict of interest and is in the same position as Jim Short?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, may I say first that I have never accepted a $20 000 gift from Telstra. That is the Leader of the Opposition's first misleading statement in this week of the sittings. The second is that I have never been called on to make a decision in relation to Telstra. Telstra is a Commonwealth government instrumentality. I am not conscious of having ever been required to adjudicate on a matter involving Telstra. Whilst the Leader of the Opposition may like to peddle this type of misinformation around the electorate, she will not get away with it. If she wants to run this line, I suggest she run the same line against every member from both sides of politics who has accepted a benefit from time to time which has been declared in the return of pecuniary interests, and that includes a member of her own caucus. She should not come in here with her double standards. She is really on the ropes. She has demonstrated that she has not got what it takes and that she cannot handle
the job. If she thinks she can come in here and peddle that kind of information, including the total untruth that I accepted a $20 000 gift from Telstra, she will learn that she cannot get away with it.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, may I say first that I have never accepted a $20 000 gift from Telstra. That is the Leader of the Opposition's first misleading statement in this week of the sittings. The second is that I have never been called on to make a decision in relation to Telstra. Telstra is a Commonwealth government instrumentality. I am not conscious of having ever been required to adjudicate on a matter involving Telstra. Whilst the Leader of the Opposition may like to peddle this type of misinformation around the electorate, she will not get away with it. If she wants to run this line, I suggest she run the same line against every member from both sides of politics who has accepted a benefit from time to time which has been declared in the return of pecuniary interests, and that includes a member of her own caucus. She should not come in here with her double standards. She is really on the ropes. She has demonstrated that she has not got what it takes and that she cannot handle
the job. If she thinks she can come in here and peddle that kind of information, including the total untruth that I accepted a $20 000 gift from Telstra, she will learn that she cannot get away with it.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016