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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 2063 ..

Mr Smyth: Absolutely not.

MR STANHOPE: Absolutely not! I think that really resolves the issue in terms of this Government's commitment to ACTION, this Government's commitment to genuine negotiations with the TWU, because it has been shown to be absolute nonsense. The Minister is misleading this place, let alone the people of Canberra, let alone the TWU. So we have come to the conclusion that the Minister and the Government are simply driven by a determination to privatise everything that stands. That is what this Government is driven by. The facts are irrelevant. If it stands, if it is publicly owned, privatise it. This is what this Government stands for. That is what it wants. That is its sole intention. The rest is just bluster and bluff.

Ms Carnell: You would know.

MR STANHOPE: Well, Guy Thurston knows. We have got a conclusion here: Either Guy Thurston lies to his Minister or the Minister lies to this place.

MR SPEAKER: Be careful, Mr Stanhope. You cannot attack people who are not in a position to defend themselves in this place.

MR STANHOPE: No, but the Minister is here to defend Mr Thurston.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Thurston is not.

MR STANHOPE: I am happy for the Minister to stand up and defend Mr Thurston.

Mr Smyth: I will later. You just keep prattling.

MR STANHOPE: Keep prattling? Minister, you have been exposed quite badly. You simply cannot do these things, Minister. You cannot come into this place, answer questions from Mr Rugendyke that Mr Rugendyke has asked genuinely, in the process tell Mr Rugendyke that you had heard nothing from Mr Thurston and that Mr Thurston had heard nothing from the TWU, and tell the entire Assembly that you had actually checked with Mr Thurston. So, there is a real problem here, Minister. There is a very serious problem here.

So, we look behind the problem to find out whether this Government is genuine about its negotiations. (Extension of time granted) We must come to the conclusion - there is no other option - that the Government has absolutely no interest in genuine negotiations with the TWU over its EBA because it has a blind determination to privatise ACTION. What employer in an industrial relations negotiation would, a month before an existing agreement ends, get out of its scabbard the sword of privatisation and say, "Agree, or we will sell you". There was still a month to go. The TWU had been negotiating seriously since April. It had made major concessions in February.

What sort of integrity is there in that process? That is a process driven by the fact that this Government, with Mr Moore, is determined to sell ACTION. That is what this is about. For the Minister to come into this place and actually make statements that are absolutely, uncategorically and explicitly contradicted by the head of ACTION really

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