Page 3618 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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Madam Speaker, this motion is not about petrol taxes. It is what should perhaps, for the purpose of categorising parliamentary processes, be called a "notice me" motion. The Opposition, desperate for an issue, is trying to run out to the electorate, saying, "Notice me. Notice me. We are going to abolish petrol taxes. We know that you are pretty happy about the fact that the price of petrol has come down. We know that you are pretty happy about the fact that the Labor Government has actually taken on the oil industry in Canberra and got for Canberra consumers the sort of benefit of competition that consumers in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart and Perth have had. We know that you know that the Liberal Party at every stage has opposed getting competition into the Canberra market. We know that you think that Kate Carnell's promise to give $9m of ratepayers' money to the oil industry is one of the silliest things ever said in the ACT Assembly. But notice me. The Liberals are going to abolish petrol taxes". What a silly exercise!
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! It now being 45 minutes since the commencement of Assembly business, the debate is interrupted, in accordance with standing order 77.
Motion (by Mr Berry) agreed to:
That the time allotted to Assembly business be extended by 30 minutes.
MR KAINE (11.55): Madam Speaker, I would like to address both of the matters that are before the Assembly, which are being debated cognately, with specific reference to the Minister's response to the committee's report which he tabled only today. The Minister's response, together with a couple of comments made by him and the Chief Minister this morning, demonstrates to me that neither the Chief Minister nor Mr Connolly understands the oil industry and they do not understand the consequences of the decisions that they have taken. I would like to run through some of Mr Connolly's comments in connection with the recommendations that were put to the Assembly by the Public Accounts Committee. I will quote directly from his response. He said at page 2:
... the PAC has failed to come to grips with the main problem facing the Canberra petrol market, namely a lack of competition ...
That is exactly what the Government has failed to come to grips with. Mr Connolly's intention was clearly to take on the majors. He has not taken on the majors. All he has done is to give a preferential position to one independent company. The major oil companies have not been affected one jot. Nothing has affected the price at which wholesale petrol is sold by the majors to this Territory. The wholesale price has not changed one-tenth of a cent because of anything that Mr Connolly has done. So, when he says that the Public Accounts Committee has failed to come to grips with the main problem, which is lack of competition, I have to say that neither has the Government.
On the same page, he said that two of the majors admitted that, if they were given these leases, their objective would not be to reduce prices, but it would be either to maximise their profits or something else. He said that they are only out to make money. But he has totally overlooked the fact that the Burmah oil company itself said that they were in the business only to make a profit. So, it is all right for the independent to whom Mr Connolly has given this favoured position to say, "We are here to make a profit",
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