PM Transcripts

PRIE MINI! STER
FOR INEDIA 24 SEPTEMBER 19892
MR HAYDEN'S ALL~ EGATIONS AGA1INST MR J. B. REID
A copy of Mr O'Reilly's. letter to mr lieid has been released.
mr O'Reilly makes it clear that whent tho companies Were sold
they had no unsat*. isfied income tax u o~ eLm
at which Mr Reid ceased to h a.% c any connection. with them.
In. other words, tax clue had beent paid.
Mr O'Reilly also nade it clear that Mr~ Raid was only a
trustee for 4,* fa,; nU unrelated to him anft not i~ n any sensea
direct beneficiary from the sale of the companies.
He has also advised that Mr Reid wil~ l have no responnbilitics.
under the special. recoupment legislation the Treasurer
introduced into the Parliament last night. Thait means that
the operations were not bottCom of the harbour operations.
That was what Lhat legislatioa w. as designed to catch. Bottomc
ofJ t -e harbour operations were ones. in which companies were
sold with cu-rent-tax liabilitio. s. which had not been paid
and the companies were then put iLn a position in which they
could aot pay tax.
That is not Mr'Reid's case.
On thle facts set out in Mr O'Reill~ y's letter, it is clear that
Mr Hayden's accusations are scurrilous in the extremne.
Mr Hayden has used privilege of-Parliamnent to give him
immunity against laws designed to protect people from cowardly
. and unjustified allegattions. In the years that I have been in
the Parliament I have not yet seen such a despicable display
of character assassination.
With Mr Hayden, no decent Australian is free from the risk of
character assassination. + Mr Hayden would not mnake these
attacks outside the Parliament.
14r Hayden is more interested in destroying the character of
decent Australians than he is in pursuing important issues of
positive Government.
Australians will judge accordingly. -Ooooooooo---