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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2660 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

Have a look at the example of the six proponents of the very fast train. They are all going to put in a tender. They are going to go for their best. They are all terrific firms. In the end five of them are going to lose. I do not think that means that they got it wrong; it just means that they were not the best contractor for the particular job. That may well have been the case with CanDeliver; I do not know. But let us use the same example of the very fast train corporations. I know that if they miss out they will be saying, "How could we have done our job better so that next time we have a better chance of winning a contract? Are there better and more effective ways of lobbying? Did we put our financial package together properly? Did we have the best people on the job as part of the team that we were trying to run?".

I am sure that that is the sort of approach that we will expect from what will be a Territory-owned corporation at some time in the next half-hour, or as soon as it is gazetted anyway.

Mrs Carnell: We will gazette it straightaway, I promise.

MR MOORE: The Chief Minister smiles and indicates that she will probably be gazetting it even within that time. I understand that it does take a few more minutes than that, as it finally gets checked and so forth. I think this is a very exciting project. I am not only happy to lend my support; I would encourage the Chief Minister and the people involved in it to get in there, do their best and do what they can to assist the ACT information technology industry in the initial instance. In particular, get in there and win whatever contracts you can to involve Canberrans and to retain jobs in Canberra. With a bit of luck, get a few more jobs in Canberra and expand like crazy. I think that is what we hope for it.

MS TUCKER (5.33): On the face of it, this Bill is very simple. It is adding one line to the Territory-owned corporations schedule, and it looks as though it is a reasonable response to the difficulties small businesses face in the current free market policies of this Government and the Federal Government. At the same time I point out that we are busily still putting small businesses out of work in town by building, or threatening to build, more and more retail space all over Canberra. This Government wants to look like they are doing everything they can to boost business in the ACT, but basically there is a blind devotion to the premise that through competition we will reach an outcome that is good for society.

I notice that in the presentation speech Mrs Carnell said:

It is a reality that in the case of the ACT, if we do nothing, it is likely that jobs will be lost to the Territory.

The ACT Government will not stand idly by and watch this happen.

I am sorry, but this Liberal Government cannot separate themselves from the Federal Government on these issues. They are equally enthusiastic about the merits of the free market and competition policies, even though it is quite obvious that competition will lead to winners and losers and that those with greater economies of scale, those with influence, those with less comprehensive quality assurance mechanisms, or those who do not have commitment to uncosted broader social and environmental goals, will have an advantage.

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