Personal Explanation

MEMBER'S REMARKS

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (16:04): I seek leave to make a personal explanation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I want to address the claims made in this place by the Hon. Rob Lucas both today and yesterday that I attended a lunch on 29 August that was sponsored by a company that may have been a tenderer for the desalination proposal.

I want it firmly placed on the record that I did not attend the lunch I was claimed to have attended. Not only did I not attend that lunch on 29 August but to the very best of my knowledge I have not attended any lunch with that particular tenderer or any other tenderer I am aware of for the desal project. Parliamentary privilege is indeed a wonderful thing, but you can see when it has been abused, as it has been by the Hon. Robert Lucas.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: On a point of order—

The Hon. P. Holloway interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: You are the one who rants on about the standing orders of the council. The President has the call, surely.

The PRESIDENT: Order! What is your point of order?

The Hon. S.G. WADE: My point of order is that, in raising a point of order in relation to where she has been misled, the minister can only address where she has been misled.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: That is outrageous!

The PRESIDENT: Obviously, the minister is defending what she says is an untrue statement.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Thank you for your protection, sir. As I said, I clearly want to put on the record that the Hon. Rob Lucas's claims were complete wrong and completely inaccurate. He is out of touch and has got it wrong yet again. What a loser!

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: On a point of order, Mr President, the minister is clearly debating the issue. Personal explanations are simply what they are said to be: personal explanations. They are not for debate.

The PRESIDENT: The minister will have other opportunities to put more on the record if she so chooses.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Thank you, Mr President. I was distracted momentarily. As I have said, I want to make sure that the record is straight. I did not attend that lunch on 29 August. To the best of my knowledge, I have not attended any lunch with that particular sponsor or any other sponsor of the desal—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: No; you should listen. I repeated exactly what I said earlier. They are deaf as well as dumb! Because of the incorrect claims made by the Hon. Rob Lucas, who has obviously got the wrong end of the stick, with information that is clearly inaccurate, I place on the record that he needs to get his facts right before he comes in here and shoots his mouth off. I have adhered to the probity guidelines in the past, and I continue to adhere to them.