Ordinarily I would not take the bait so ably provided by The Royal Gazette, but since they have chosen just three days before a General Election to coincidentally publish excerpts from a report prepared by a civil servant and submitted only to His Excellency the governor, I must respond... or in this case repeat myself.

On every occasion in the recent past, I advised the country via the media that the situation at the Bermuda Housing corporation was dire and further that there was a likelihood that some people might be made uncomfortable by the contents of the Auditor General's report. In this very room when I alluded to the possibility of calling names, the very newspaper that today attempts to sully the reputations of two Government members of the last Parliament, along with members of the Opposition protested wildly that to do so would be an abuse of Parliamentary privilege and that I was way off the mark in even suggesting the possibility. Clearly the rules only apply to me.

Let me repeat, say again, reiterate, go over, what I said, most recently on May 27 about this matter at each press conference held to report publicly on the progress made to date to place the Bermuda Housing Corporation on a proper management footing. I said then and I quote:

"Much has been said about the various `over spends' on several projects. I can report that there are 77 of these cases which fall into three categories - building projects, loans and fixed assets. While we shall pursue every avenue to reduce this amount, we have established a contingency of up to $10 million to cover any potential loss.

"This figure represents the worst-case scenario. In those cases where a court case is unlikely to bear fruit, we will place in the public domain the names of those firms and individuals who have not conducted their business dealings with the Bermuda Housing Corporation in an honest manner."

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone but me?

It is clear to me, that since the Mid Ocean News have concluded their four-and-a-half year Herculean, but unsuccessful, effort to unseat this Government by printing last Friday of its final edition before the General Election, The Royal Gazette has not surprisingly taken up the mantle in a futile attempt to sway the voter. Now, I certainly recall that there was a hue and cry from the Opposition, widely reported in the media, that they had not been told about the contingency and that there needed to be another investigation.

The Auditor General's report contains no surprises that the public has not already been apprised of, since there has been ongoing publication of the various steps of the audit. I think the Bermudian public is more concerned that the Bermuda Housing Corporation is now under proper management and control to prevent this type of debacle occurring in the future.

In the same press conference on May 27 I said and I quote:

"We have submitted our response to the report of the Auditor General. Not surprisingly there is a fair amount of criticism of both management and the board contained in the report. The new policies and procedures that have been implemented will ensure an improved audit report going forward."

Having reminded you of what I said before today's "revelation", I wish to turn to another matter. Of far more serious import, is the fact that a report which is meant to be between the Auditor General and Government House finds its way into the hands of a reporter and further, a reporter who has, from her columns, enjoyed an extraordinarily close relationship with Government House. Accordingly, I have today asked the Honourable Premier to write to His Excellency the Governor to specifically request that an inquiry be launched into the matter without delay.

It is worthwhile noting that the chairman of the audit committee is none other than the Shadow Minister of Finance, the current Opposition Leader - one Grant Gibbons. I leave it to the people of Bermuda to decide the motivation for today's story.

Today's story strains our faith in the Constitution, it causes concern about the inner workings of areas outside of Government's control and further, it impedes the Auditor General from properly executing his function when he must do so with the knowledge that his findings will end up in the press, prior to the proper processes being followed.

In 1998, I believe at the same stage of the campaign, The Royal Gazette had another soon-to-be-Minister in their sights. The people of Bermuda will recall that Minister Alex Scott was the victim of incredulous allegations in a clear attempt to influence the outcome of the election. It did not work then and it will not work now. These tactics, not surprisingly, are transparent and does nothing to enhance what little credibility the daily has as fair or even-handed. This is a sad day for Bermudian journalism.

We have stopped the haemorrhaging at the Bermuda Housing Corporation, placed it on proper footing and are headed in the right direction with sufficient checks and balances in place to prevent this type of abuse occurring again.

With the exception of the Opposition and some media - everyone else in this community concurs with that assessment.