On November 15th, business sector Senator Godwin Hulse told the Senate that government should be refunded every cent that was collected by the private companies register. Last week Thursday on 7NEWS, he iterated and amplified those comments. And while Hulse sticks to his point, he's not winning any converts in the government.
Speaking to us today, the man who signed off on the private registry, former Attorney General Godfrey Smith said that there's nothing to refund.
Hon. Godfrey Smith, Former Attorney General
"The response is a simple one and I won't comment further except to say that the whole procedure was legally done so that if the government sanctioned the privatization of any entity and acquiesced it and received its profit of shares or whatever, then there can be no claim that it was illegally done. In other words, it is the government that is doing this. It is the government that is embarked on the exercise, has done so, and therefore the question of it not having legally be done does not arise."
Jules Vasquez,
But the government can do illegal things.
Hon. Godfrey Smith,
"Clearly a government can do illegal things but in a sense not to itself. If a government does something to you, or commits a trespass against you one way or another, you have recourse. In this case you are talking about something that should have gone to the government. I don't know if you follow what I was saying, you can't take s step that involves your own property or assets and then say we didn't properly do it."
Jules Vasquez,
But government doesn't own anything, the people own it, and that revenue too, theoretically, but the principle was must be applied.
Hon. Godfrey Smith,
"That it is the government. Yes. I am totally satisfied of the legality of that."
Jules Vasquez,
So Mr. Hulse is flogging a dead horse, there is no way that money will be refunded?
Hon. Godfrey Smith,
"Well I've answered as different question. I've answered the legality of it and obviously the two are related."
Jules Vasquez,
So can he reasonably expect that there will be any refund?
Hon. Godfrey Smith,
"Unless some illegality can be shown."
As has been reported, government's legal conjurer Gian Ghandi and senior adviser Joe Waight had designed and signed off on a settlement deed that called the agreement not only illegal, but "repugnant to the constitution." Though they signed off on it for government, the owners of the private registry rejected it, and a far less contentiously worded settlement agreement was agreed upon.
