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MR BERRY: Kennett said “more flexible”, too. Kennett meant “less attractive”. You ask all the Victorians who are leaving the State. It comes down to not having the guts to come out and say what you mean. It means making ACTEW employment arrangements more competitive - less costly, less of them, less attractive. Read all those things into the rhetoric that goes with the language which the Government is using in relation to this corporatisation, and in particular in relation to industrial relations issues.

We have heard all this rhetoric before from employers over the years. Time after time employers talk about flexibility. Flexibility usually means that the worker gets screwed. That is my impression of that sort of language. It is the sort of stuff that flows like honey off the tongues of the Liberals. It is the sort of stuff that they can feed into the media all the time and think that because it sounds so warm and comfortable people will be sucked in by it. Well, workers are not sucked in by it. Obviously, the unions are not. They disagree with you. In fact, they make it very clear that any agreement in relation to the corporatisation of ACTEW hangs on the basis of the sorting out of the new enterprise agreement and residual issues. So, do not fib to this Assembly. You cannot do that. Do not say that the unions support what you are doing when they do not. They absolutely do not.

Mr De Domenico: That is not true.

MR BERRY: They absolutely do not, because one of the conditions of their in-principle - - -

Mr De Domenico: You must have a different letter from the one that I have.

MR BERRY: No, no. One of the conditions of their in-principle support for this is that you have to sort out the new enterprise agreement and those residual issues. Will you agree to do it before the starting date? No, you will not. You really have to come out and step across - - -

Mr Osborne: Wayne, look what you have done to Lucy. You have put her to sleep.

MR BERRY: Some people might have been asleep when the Liberals were trying to pour this warm honey on them. Ms Horodny was not, because she knows what the Liberals are about in relation to the employment conditions of workers within the industry. It is my understanding that the Greens took a bit of time to talk to the unions and they understand clearly where the unions are coming from on this issue.

I think it is most important that this issue be emphasised over and over again. We need to ensure that the workers in ACTEW are protected. We have said a lot about the sorts of services that ACTEW provides and the quality of their services. ACTEW has presented a well-meaning corporate image to the people of the ACT over many years, but, when it comes down to it, there are a great number of employees in there who probably are baffled by what changes will be negotiated under the enterprise agreement. They will be

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