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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 1 Hansard (29 April) . . Page.. 162 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Mr Speaker, these assets are owned by the public - by the Canberra community. They have been developed by revenue from the public purse - through taxes and charges. Unlike many other decisions made by government, a decision to sell a public asset such as ACTEW, Totalcare or ACTTAB is an irrevocable decision. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. It is not like amending a piece of legislation that a previous government introduced to bring back some power for appeal or involvement in a decision-making process. It is not like that at all. Once you make the decision, you never get it back, because the amount of money and the amount of effort, experience and expertise that have gone into developing that asset cannot be retrieved by a simple legislative decision. So, Mr Speaker, for that reason and for that reason alone, we believe that it is justified that the people of the ACT, through their representatives in this Assembly, have the opportunity and, indeed, the right to say whether or not they believe that that asset should continue to be retained in public hands.

Mr Speaker, I have outlined in the MPI that I have presented to the Assembly this afternoon a number of other reasons why it is important to allow the community to have a say - indeed, the say - on whether or not an asset is retained in public hands. The first is that Territory-owned corporations provide significant social benefits to people in Canberra. Most importantly, they provide jobs, and they provide fair job security. In total, ACTEW, ACTTAB and Totalcare Industries employ 1,990 people. That makes them some of the largest employers in Canberra outside the Federal and ACT public services. That is a significant number of people. Any decision to privatise, therefore, will have significant ramifications for these employees.

Ms Carnell: And any decision not to will too.

MR CORBELL: Chief Minister, I do not know whether you have been listening to this debate; but I think you would find that at no stage whatsoever has the Labor Party advocated doing nothing. What the Labor Party has said is that we believe that there are a number of factors that you are failing to take into account and that we want to place on the record so that there is some accountable and open government in this place.

Ms Carnell: So, you are saying that you would sell ACTEW under certain circumstances?

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, I know that the Chief Minister finds it difficult to grasp this concept; but we are interested in the interests of the community, not just in her budget bottom line. So, Mr Speaker, when we speak about jobs and when we speak about job security, we are interested in the interests of the community, not just in the Chief Minister's interest in propping up her problem with her budget. Mr Speaker, any decision to privatise, therefore, will have significant ramifications for any employees, particularly in light of the tendency for - - -

Ms Carnell: You would sell if it was in the community's best interests, would you? It is really important.

MR SPEAKER: Proceed, Mr Corbell.

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