Legislative Council
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9821 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Wednesday 24 September 2008 ______ The President (The Hon. Peter Thomas Primrose) took the chair at 11.00 a.m. The President offered the Prayers. CRIMES (SENTENCING PROCEDURE) AMENDMENT (VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS) BILL 2008 Bill received from the Legislative Assembly, and read a first time and ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly, on behalf of the Hon. John Hatzistergos. Motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly agreed to: That standing orders be suspended to allow the passing of the bill through all its remaining stages during the present or any one sitting of the House. Second reading set down as an order of the day for a later hour. INSPECTOR OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION Reports The President tabled, pursuant to the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988, the following reports: (1) Annual report of the Inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption for the year ended 30 June 2008. (2) "Special Report of the Inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to the Parliament of New South Wales pursuant to section 77A of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 on issues relating to the Investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption of certain allegations against the Honourable Peter Breen MLC", dated 24 September 2008. The President announced that, pursuant to the Act, it had been authorised that the reports be made public. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT The President tabled, pursuant to the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, a performance audit report of the Auditor-General entitled "Delivering Health Care out of Hospitals—Department of Health", dated September 2008. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. PROGRAM OF APPLIANCES FOR DISABLED PEOPLE Production of Documents: Order Motion by Mr Ian Cohen agreed to: That, under Standing Order 52, there be laid upon the table of the House within 7 days of the date of the passing of this resolution the following documents in the possession, custody or control of the Minister for Health or the Department of Health: (a) any document showing or relating to audit data and information collated by Oakton, formerly Acumen Alliance, concerning the Program of Appliances for Disabled People (PADP), (b) any reports produced and authored by Oakton on PADP Lodgement Centres, and (c) any document which records or refers to the production of documents as a result of this order of the House. 9822 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 24 September 2008 UNPROCLAIMED LEGISLATION The Hon. Ian Macdonald tabled a list detailing all legislation unproclaimed 90 calendar days after assent as at 24 September 2008. PETITIONS La Perouse-Phillip Bay Chinese Market Gardens Petition opposing incorporation of Chinese market gardens at La Perouse-Phillip Bay into Botany Cemetery, received from the Hon. Henry Tsang. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Withdrawal of Business Private Members' Business items Nos 135 and 147 outside the Order of Precedence withdrawn by Ms Lee Rhiannon. Private Members' Business items Nos 85, 90 and 121 outside the Order of Precedence withdrawn by Dr John Kaye. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders: Order of Business Motion by the Hon. Duncan Gay agreed to: That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow a motion to be moved forthwith that Private Members' Business item No. 137 outside the Order of Precedence, relating to questions asked by him regarding Roger Fletcher and Ramiens Timber, be called on forthwith. Order of Business Motion by the Hon. Duncan Gay agreed to: That Private Members' Business item No. 137 outside the Order of Precedence be called on forthwith. THE HON. DUNCAN GAY: APOLOGY BY DAILY TELEGRAPH The Hon. DUNCAN GAY (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [11.16 a.m.]: I move: (1) That this House notes that the Honourable Duncan Gay MLC has informed the House that: (a) he has not been asked by Roger Fletcher or by Ramiens Timber to ask questions on their behalf, (b) he has not received money from Roger Fletcher or Ramiens Timber for this or any other purpose, and (c) he has not at any time requested money from Roger Fletcher or Ramiens Timber for this or any other purpose. (2) That this House notes the apology to the Honourable Duncan Gay MLC by the Daily Telegraph, published on Tuesday 23 September 2008 in response to an article entitled "Dubbo donation scandal" published on 1 May 2008, which acknowledges that any inference that the questions asked in Parliament by Mr Gay were as a result of donations he or the New South Wales Nationals received is incorrect. (3) That this House directs the Honourable Amanda Fazio MLC to withdraw the notice of motion given by her on 8 May 2008. (4) That this House calls on Ms Fazio to unreservedly apologise to Mr Gay for impugning his motives in asking questions in relation to this matter, and for failing to adequately research her facts before giving notice of her motion on 8 May 2008. This important motion is about the integrity of the House and information that remains on the Legislative Council Notice Paper. The information in the notice of motion given by the Hon. Amanda Fazio is incorrect, and that is why I have moved this motion. I rate this matter as one of great importance, and that is why I have brought it on as a matter of urgency today. It is about a person's integrity, and it is about people either 24 September 2008 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 9823 deliberately or accidentally getting their facts wrong. On this occasion we have given every opportunity for the record to be cleared. Indeed, in the toughest area that one could go, I went to the Daily Telegraph and, to its great credit, it published a full apology. That apology appeared on page 4 of the Daily Telegraph yesterday. I seek leave to table the original article and the apology. Leave granted. The apology in the Daily Telegraph states: Apology to The Hon Duncan Gay MLC An article titled "Dubbo donation scandal" published on May 1, 2008 concerned allegations that Duncan Gay MP used question time to lobby on behalf of Dubbo trucking company, Fletchers. Any inference that the questions asked in Parliament were as a result of donations he or the NSW Nationals received is incorrect. The Daily Telegraph apologises to The Hon Duncan Gay MLC. I thank the Daily Telegraph for publishing that apology and appreciate it was a big step to do so. Of course, the next step when a member either accidentally or deliberately misuses facts, which remain in Hansard, is for that member to remove the incorrect information. Despite several requests, the particular member in this instance has failed to do that. As the House is the master of its destiny, my only alternative is to move this motion so that she is instructed to remove that information. I call on the member to have the decency also to apologise to me for besmirching my name. The incorrect information she provided has been recorded in Hansard and will remain a matter of history. This Chamber must pass a motion for its removal to indicate to history students that the matter did not just fall away but was settled appropriately. Today's vote is not about whether a member is liked; rather, it is to demonstrate that no facts support the allegations put before the House. The questions I asked of the Minister had nothing to do with the business interests of a Dubbo trucking company. People with conspiracy theories will be disappointed to learn that two attempts were made to get such a story published in the media based on private correspondence between me and the Minister for Roads. I was representing constituents, not Mr Fletcher, who were concerned about the overloading of trucks. At the request of the Chief of Staff of the Minister for Roads I sent correspondence to the Minister on behalf of those constituents, but my private correspondence was hawked to the media. I give full credit to Simon Benson for publishing in the apology that I have a 20-year unblemished record. I want my record to remain unblemished and I ask members to support my motion to correct a wrong that was wrought upon me in base political terms. I do not know whether this matter was raised to get the Treasurer out of trouble because nothing will get him out of trouble; he gets himself into trouble every day. The Hon. Eric Roozendaal: Point of order: I believe in giving members a fair go. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition was heartfelt in his comments, but he cannot help himself. Despite the façade of heartfelt concern about his integrity and how he will be recorded in history, he tried to have a go at me. I want to listen carefully to his comments, yet these cheap shots at me demonstrate that he should be judged not by what he says, but by how he acts. The PRESIDENT: Order! That is not a point of order. Members should give due cognisance to this important debate. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will bear that advice in mind as he proceeds. The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: I certainly take that advice and will not pursue that line. The name used to value-add the comments for which the Daily Telegraph apologised was Nathan Rees, the then Minister for Water Utilities who is now the Premier of New South Wales. Those same comments were used in a Dorothy Dix question in the lower House to the former Minister for Police, David Campbell.