Page 3048 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 11 September 1990
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be composed of individuals chosen for their expertise, and will include employee representation. Directors' responsibilities will be those of the board of a company, and the chief executive officer will be appointed by, and be responsible to, the board.
Corporatisation is most appropriate for government operations that have no, or very limited, dependence on the ACT budget. ACT Electricity and Water will be corporatised. Given its monopoly position, a regulatory framework for pricing will be set in place at the same time to ensure that efficiency gains are passed on to customers. The Government has already announced the corporatisation of the Mitchell Health Services Facility, and an interim board is now in place. The TAB operations of the Gaming and Liquor Authority will be corporatised. The authority's gaming and liquor administrative and regulatory functions will continue to be the responsibility of the Minister for Justice and Community Services, and revenue collection in these areas will be administered by the ACT Revenue Office.
Consideration is being given to corporatising ACT commercial forestry operations, taking full account of their recreational uses as well as their commercial value. As can be seen, the emphasis here is on corporatisation and not privatisation. This Alliance Government has no intention of privatising its key business undertakings, and the benefits of using better business practices will accrue to the whole community.
Let me turn briefly to private sector workers compensation. I am releasing today a review of the ACT workers compensation scheme. It is a lengthy, detailed, expert report and the Government anticipates strong public interest in it. A most disturbing feature highlighted in the review is the finding of the level of profits being earned by insurers in the ACT from this compulsory business. The report finds that in 1988-89 insurers derived over $2 in profit for each $1 paid in claims and expenses. Regardless of other decisions to be taken in the light of the review, this level of profitability, and consequent cost to the community, is unacceptable to the Government. It is a cost burden that discourages business from recognising the ACT as a place to invest and employ people. It places an unwarranted additional cost burden on business enterprises.
I therefore propose the establishment of a workers compensation premiums monitoring committee, with the intention of getting insurers to lower the premiums voluntarily. The committee will include the ACT Government's actuary. I will invite the private sector, the Trades and Labour Council and the Insurance Council of Australia to participate. The Government will be closely monitoring the progress in lowering premiums as it formulates its overall response to the review, after receiving public comment on the report.
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