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ACTEW, Mr Speaker, is not a relic of the Dark Ages. ACTEW is not a cumbersome, unwieldy bureaucracy which has been sitting over there with its head buried in the sand, not responding to the community. ACTEW is an efficient, forward-thinking, responsive organisation. It already operates in a commercial way. It already operates in a competitive energy market with gas and alternative energy technologies. Certainly, ACTEW needs to continue to change, but ACTEW is also a major community asset. It has a turnover of over $300m. Significant changes to its structure and the way it operates should not be undertaken in an ill-considered and hasty way. They should not be rushed. They should be subject to an informed public discussion.

Mr Speaker, Mr De Domenico had some things to say about the attitude of the ALP to corporatisation. The Minister tried to claim that the ALP is ideologically opposed to corporatisation. This is simply not the case. There is nothing in ALP policy which makes this kind of - - -

Mr De Domenico: So, you will support the Bill, will you?

MR WHITECROSS: There is nothing in ALP policy, Mr De Domenico, which makes the kind of arbitrary, blanket statement which you are claiming is ALP policy. Equally, we do not have an ideological commitment to corporatise, or to privatise, or to contract out everything that moves in the public sector - unlike the Liberals. Labor believes that a variety of organisational structures can be used for government agencies. The choice of the best form, the best structure - whether it is for a government department, a statutory authority, a commercially trading statutory authority or a company - is a matter that needs to be carefully considered. We have an open mind. We are happy to consider the evidence and the arguments, but when - - -

Mr De Domenico: Go and talk to your mates in New South Wales. They will tell you.

MR WHITECROSS: But, Mr De Domenico, when we are asked to support legislation which is being rushed through the parliament and which is supported only by the most glib and superficial arguments, Labor members, I think, are justified in being sceptical and in fearing that these changes are half-baked and ill thought through. The Minister has done nothing to dispel this impression.

In contrast to the Minister's handling of this, we have the model of the New South Wales Government. The New South Wales Government has set in place a series of inquiries. It has announced its intentions. It has put its intentions on the public record, but it is going through a process of consultation and inquiry before legislating. It will bring forward legislation in due course, but it is going through a process of consultation first. That is the correct way for these things to be done. That is the way the Government should be doing things.

The community deserves better from its parliament and from its Government than we have on this. This Assembly has a proud tradition of arguing for legislative changes to be proceeded with at a considered pace, allowing time for community input, allowing time not just for the members of the Assembly to come to an understanding of what is going on and what the proposals mean but also for the community, without all the resources that members have, to see them, to consider them and to come to an appropriate view.

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