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MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, the answer to Ms Horodny's question is this: The Government's position on corporatisation has been clear, out in the open, for a number of months and a number of years. I can also assure Ms Horodny that the corporatisation of ACTEW has been a long-going process. Ms Horodny should know that ACTEW was about to be corporatised before the change from the Alliance Government to the Labor Government. Ms Horodny would also be aware of the complete package of documentation - if you have not received it already you will be receiving it - on the complete restructure and corporatisation process of ACTEW. I can also say to Ms Horodny that the Government has taken into account community service obligations, and the Government’s election commitments to corporatise - why we are corporatising, the benefits from corporatisation, and the track records of other governments and corporatisations. All those things have been taken into account. You will find tomorrow, when we introduce the package, that you will be pleasantly surprised.

MS HORODNY: I have a supplementary question. How will the Government expect to gain the support of the community for corporatisation if it will not provide to the community details of the basic analysis which has led it to this conclusion?

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, I have said time and time again - in fact twice today, I think - that the community benefits of corporatisation have been well documented. All State Premiers and Chief Ministers and Federal Government people have talked about the electricity market in particular. It is well documented, Ms Horodny. You will find from the package tomorrow, including the introductory speech and the negotiations with the unions, that all the things that need to be done have been done. They will continue to be done. Here in the ACT we are going to learn by the mistakes of other people who have corporatised. We are going to do it better and, when we do do it better, it is for the benefit of the community.

Government Service - Office Accommodation at Gungahlin

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Humphries, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning. Referring to the desirability of a DELP building in Gungahlin in the town centre area, the other day you would have received a letter from the Mitchell-Gungahlin Chamber of Commerce. I quote from part of that letter: “There is no reason why the construction of a new DELP building could not start now in Gungahlin”. That view certainly supports my agenda as Minister. Given this statement from the business group and what I believe is a clear case that that building can go ahead on time, would you go back to your officers, express a strong view on the matter, and ask them to spell out the details of how that building may proceed?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I have to say that it is very easy for the Labor Party to pretend that they are now the friends of Gungahlin and the people who would have delivered a new office building for DELP in Gungahlin had they been returned. That is very convenient reconstruction of history. In fact, that was not the way that the former Government was proceeding at the time it left office. It is not possible to provide

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