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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-21 Daily Xml
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Personal Explanation

CAMPAIGN COSTS

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (14:29): I seek leave to make a personal explanation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON: This is about a matter that was raised in the Sunday Mail regarding my debt to the Hon. Mr Xenophon in respect of campaign costs. In the article in the Sunday Mail entitled 'MP to outline poll debt' it was stated:

Independent No Pokies MP Ann Bressington will make a parliamentary statement on Wednesday over campaign funding debts she owes fellow MP Nick Xenophon from the last state election. Mr Crouch went on to say Ms Blessington's aides refused to allow her to speak to the Sunday Mail over the issue, saying she was far too busy to discuss it.

To clarify: I do not owe Mr Xenophon any money. I do, however, owe a substantial sum of money to the ANZ Bank as an outcome of borrowing money for these election funds. In fact, nine months before the election, when Mr Xenophon asked me to do him a huge favour and go on his ticket, the first question I asked was, 'Will it cost me anything because I do not have any money for campaign funds?' He responded by saying, 'Absolutely not.'

At that dinner meeting I was told I had no chance of being elected and that it was almost a given that he would not be elected either, and that his one and only chance was to be above the line on the ballot paper. Just a few days after the election we were having a cup of coffee and the Hon. Nick Xenophon said to me, 'You realise that you now owe me $50,000 for half the campaign costs?' My response was, 'I don't have $50,000 and wouldn't be able to raise that kind of money.' He then inquired how much equity I had in my home, to which I stated, 'None'. He also asked whether I had any other properties I could borrow against, to which I replied, 'No'. Mr Xenophon went on to organise a meeting with me through a contact of his from the ANZ Bank to organise a personal loan for an amount of money. I could not secure $50,000, but only $37,000, which is what I have paid Mr Xenophon. The statements in the media, if reported correctly, are in direct contrast with my recollection of what occurred:

I told Ann I had been left with this debt and she was good enough to volunteer to chip in $40,000.

Again, I state that the honourable member requested the money, saying that it was common practice for members of a political party to contribute to campaign costs. He mentions a sum of $40,000 because I could not secure a loan for $50,000 at the time.

I was an average citizen, a mother of five children with a mortgage, and $50,000 to me was a fortune, as it is for many others when they first come into this place. When I went home and told my partner that this is what was required, his response was, 'We just can't do it.' Nonetheless, a meeting was organised and a loan was secured. The Sunday Mail also quotes Mr Xenophon as saying:

Late in the election, when it looked like she was a chance of getting in, I spent more money on advertisements to try to get her across the line.

Again, this simply does not make sense because I had made perfectly clear that I was doing this as a favour and not to be elected. I was more than happy with the work I was doing in the drug and alcohol sector, with the life I had managed to create after many years had gone into establishing Drug Beat of SA. Another reason why I was not committed to becoming a politician is that at the time I had a three year old son with special needs and my job was flexible enough to allow me to deal with those issues.

Did the honourable member promote me without permission and consultation and, if so, why? One week before the election The Advertiser showed the results of a poll that said that I would be fighting it out for a seat with the Democrats. I immediately rang Mr Xenophon for assurance that this was not the case and I received it. He said, 'Those polls are never accurate; don't worry, I still don't think I even have a chance.' This was repeated on the day the announcement was made that Mr Darley and I were on his ticket. There was ample opportunity for him to share that he had been promoting me as his running mate, to be prepared to be elected and to negotiate this debt that I would incur. None of that occurred.

The Hon. Nick Xenophon is quoted in the Sunday Mail as saying, 'We are chipping away at that debt because it is a bit of a millstone.' To my amazement, the Hon. Nick Xenophon came to me just four months into my term and requested a further $22,000 from me to contribute to the Nick Xenophon calendar of stunts as a fundraising effort. This request came even after he was aware of my difficulty in securing the previous loan just months before. I was assured by Mr Xenophon that with the sale of the calendar at $100 each it would be possible to reimburse a small amount of the money I had paid to him.

I refused the proposal, stating there was absolutely no more money and also because I wanted to be guaranteed more than a small amount of money in return for what would have been two substantial debts. If that statement is accurately reported and it is also untrue or perhaps Mr Xenophon meant that he is chipping away at his own debt, I am not sure. I reiterate that I would not have addressed this matter in this sitting if it were not for the inaccuracy of the comments made in the Sunday Mail article supposedly quoting the Hon. Mr Xenophon. If in fact those statements are accurate, then I am more than disappointed with what seems to be a dishonest response.

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