Page 4961 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (8.00): We are resuming tonight discussion of the Territory Owned Corporations Bill 1990. The Territory Owned Corporations Bill 1990 represents a major initiative on the part of the Alliance Government for reforming the commercial activities of its major business enterprises. As members will be aware, Commonwealth funding arrangements for the Territory present us with a very tight budgetary situation now, and in future years. It is imperative, therefore, that we ensure that the business activities operated by the Territory are structured to ensure that they operate as efficiently as possible to become profitable businesses and provide appropriate returns on the funds that the ACT community has invested in them.
We cannot afford to have the Territory taxpayers subsidise the services provided by these business activities. This Bill will provide the basis to enable the Territory's major businesses to be restructured to enable them to operate properly as fully commercial activities. I am sure that is something that the taxpayers of the community will support. Once established as Territory owned corporations, they will be required to meet financial and other performance targets determined by the shareholders in conjunction with the board of each corporation.
These targets will normally be included in a statement of corporate intent produced by each corporation and tabled in the Assembly. The statements of corporate intent will also cover the corporate and business plans of the corporations. Any commercial-in-confidence information contained in the statements of corporate intent will not be published, quite naturally, in order to protect the commercial viability of these corporations.
Other accountability measures will include audit by the Territory's Auditor-General in accordance with audit requirements under the Commonwealth Companies Code.
In addition, there is the requirement for all Territory owned corporations to satisfy all reporting requirements specified under the Commonwealth Companies Code and to provide detailed annual reports, which will be tabled in the Assembly.
As mentioned by the Chief Minister in his presentation speech, this Bill is about corporatisation, not privatisation. I would like the Leader of the Opposition to take that on board. All Territory owned corporations and any subsidiaries must be 100 per cent owned by the Territory. I think that answers one of the major queries that the Leader of the Opposition raised in her speech earlier today.
Other Bills currently before the Assembly will result in the TAB operations becoming the first Territory owned corporation on 1 January 1991. We will provide for the board of our largest prospective Territory owned
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