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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (5 November) . . Page.. 3631 ..

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, all I am signing is the second stage of what Ms Follett signed as a first stage. Basically, the next stage of the gas reform approach does allow joint access to gas lines. So, it means that different people can draw gas from particular gas lines. It does allow competition between States. It precludes individual companies from having monopolies in any particular area, as AGL probably did in the past in the ACT and in other places as well. Basically, it is the next step in freeing up the gas market to allow other companies to use pipelines - that means infrastructure - and to be able to sell gas into both the commercial market and the retail market, which, of course, as has been the case in the electricity area, means that gas prices will potentially go down. It certainly has meant that with regard to electricity, to the extent that we are up to at the moment.

Ms Follett signed the first stage of gas reform. I think it was probably in 1994, but I could be wrong on that, Mr Speaker. I think that was when the first stage of that particular part of the competition policy was signed. The reason I am saying that this next part is important is that we do have a letter - I actually do not have it with me, but I could table it if members of the Assembly were interested - from the NCC, making it extremely clear that governments that are not in a position to sign the next stage of the gas reform agreements on Friday will lose not just some, but all, of the next tranche of the competition payments. I think that letter goes on to say "and all future payments until the document is signed".

The reason it needs to be signed on Friday - the free market on gas does not come in until 1 July next year - is that there are a number of things that have to be done in the meantime, from the time that the States sign off. Not at the initial sign-off - Ms Follett did that - but at the next stage, model legislation and a number of other things need to be put in place before the actual market can be in place on 1 July next year. So, Mr Speaker, the NCC and actually the Federal Treasurer as well have made it clear that, for the States to receive the second tranche payments, this document will need to be signed by Friday, as there will not be another COAG meeting held in the timeframe required to achieve the 1 July date.

The next tranche of payments, from memory, is something more than $6m, Mr Speaker. I have to say that I think $6m, or more than $6m, is a lot of money. It certainly buys an awful lot of patients in our hospitals; it buys an awful lot of services for kids in schools; it buys an awful lot of community services, police, or whatever. It is not a payment that I would be willing to allow to go easily, Mr Speaker. As Rosemary Follett signed the first lot of these agreements in the gas area, I assumed that those opposite would have been totally well briefed.

MR WHITECROSS: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, perhaps you would like to answer the last part of my question, which was: Why, if this is so important, have you never made a ministerial statement in relation to it? Chief Minister, in your answer you indicated that the amount involved is now $6m. In the article in today's Canberra Times you indicated that the amount was $100m.

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