TOURISM COMMISSION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): Could the minister explain the $32,000 ex-gratia payment that was made to Holidays of Australia just before Christmas?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:33): Any payments that were made—and my understanding is that it was not an ex-gratia payment, but rather a payment that was part of the original lease agreement—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Why would Mr Mead call it 'ex-gratia' then?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, as I have said in this place, we do not necessarily agree with all of the material and content that has been in that letter; we do not agree with that, but we have resolved those differences by varying the lease. Any payments that were made in December, if that is when it was—and I am not too sure exactly when the payment was made—would have been part of the original lease requirements and were part of those original obligations. As I said, there have been no payments, to the best of my knowledge, or that I am aware of, that—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: There should be; you're the minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I can only come into this place and say that we varied the lease and there are no financial obligations, and no payments are being made. I cannot be any clearer than that. The honourable member, as I said, is just part of a lazy, indifferent opposition. They sit on their hands and do absolutely nothing. The best he can do—the very best he can do—as Leader of the Opposition is come into this place with an old, dusty letter, with old information that he has dusted off—second, third and fourth hand information—and try to fly a kite.

As I said, it has all been said and done. All of that information I have been open, honest and transparent about. It is all on the public record. The questions have been answered in full several times, ad nauseam. I cannot help it if the honourable Leader of the Opposition is just too lazy to bother to read a newspaper or too lazy to switch on a radio and listen to a news update. He has to wait a month or so before he can get off his tail and be bothered to dust off a really old letter that has been in the public arena now for many weeks.