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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4408 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

Another of Mr Whitecross's successful amendments earlier this year ensured that an inspector must own and use a roller brake testing machine when examining a vehicle - something that I supported. As these machines are quite expensive, I believe that to some extent this requirement would provide a kind of natural barrier to the number of dealers interested in doing their own inspections. I understand the motivation behind Mr Whitecross's original amendments to this fitness-for-registration inspection legislation. I have met with reputable dealers over the last couple of months. I appreciate that we are talking about car salesmen here. The whole issue of there being a conflict of interest in performing registration inspections will always be theoretical. The cost and subsequent loss of reputation within a highly competitive industry will hopefully see to that. For the rest, I understand that the current Registrar of Motor Vehicles is both enthusiastic and meticulous in his job, and we seem to have the machinery in place to back him up. I commend this Bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Kaine) adjourned.

MR WHITECROSS (11.07): Mr Speaker, I present the Territory Owned Corporations (Amendment) Bill (No. 4) 1997.

Title read by Clerk.

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

The Territory Owned Corporations (Amendment) Bill (No. 4) 1997 and the related Bill which I am to introduce shortly - the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) (Amendment) Bill - are designed to bring Territory-owned corporations into line with other government agencies when it comes to presenting annual reports on their affairs. Members in this place and others observing the administrative arrangements in the ACT over the last three years will know that there has been an increasing use of Territory-owned corporations for administering areas of responsibility within the Australian Capital Territory.

In the last three years we have seen the corporatisation of ACTEW, we have seen the corporatisation of ACTTAB and we have seen the transfer of a very large area of responsibilities from the Department of Urban Services to the Territory-owned corporation Totalcare Industries. Mr Speaker, under these circumstances the scrutiny of the activities of Territory-owned corporations is a very important part of our responsibilities as members in this place, and it is incumbent on us to ensure that we have from Territory-owned corporations adequate standards of reporting on their activities, so that we can be clear about what they are doing. ACTEW Corporation has assets of over $1 billion - something like $1.3 billion. Totalcare Industries has assets of over $25m. These entities need to be accountable to this Assembly.

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