Page 2999 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 September 1994
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That is not so. It almost seems that this was written by somebody who was not even in the committee. Further, Mrs Grassby said:
Governments should always consider consequences of policy initiatives -
that is correct -
but they should not have to achieve a "Paretian Optimality" before proceeding with such changes.
I would ask Mrs Grassby whether she can stand up and tell me what a "Paretian Optimality" is.
Mrs Grassby: I will tell you when I speak. Do you know what it means? I do.
MR KAINE: I do, indeed; but it is an interesting thing to get thrown in there, and I just wonder whose words they are. Further over, under the heading "Independents policy", Mrs Grassby said:
The policy of the Government regarding petrol independents is available and generally understood in the community. I will not support any recommendation or continuation of past policies in the petrol retailing market which are anti-competitive and force upon my constituents in Belconnen and Hall higher prices.
They talk about politicising the committee! I did not mention Belconnen or Hall or any other suburb. If I did, I would probably talk about Belconnen and Hall too, if they were relevant to the inquiry; but they were not. Further on, in terms of abolishing the 3c a litre government levy, Mrs Grassby said:
The three cent per litre levy was introduced by the Alliance Government -
now here is a statement for you -
both for uniformity with NSW taxation and as a revenue raising measure.
That is simply not a statement of fact. We applied it for one reason only - to raise three years' worth of revenue, about $25m, to fund part of the hospital restructuring. Parity with New South Wales had nothing to do with it. So, here we have Mrs Grassby telling us what went on in the Alliance cabinet room.
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