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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 2159 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

government-owned organisation which should be sold? It makes money, has had growth in revenue of 22 per cent this year, and anticipates increases in key sectors of our local economy such as IT communications. It anticipates becoming a significant player in this sector. Again, Mr Speaker, not my words; the words of the general manager of Ecowise Services.

Mr Speaker, based on this most recent annual report, this business is going to grow. That means that the investment all Canberrans have made in it is going to grow and that means that the return it delivers to the ACT community is going to grow. It is another reason why this Assembly should support the long-term view, should take the big picture, and should not support a sale for a quick buck.

Mr Speaker, that brings me to the issue of what the ACT is actually going to get from this privatisation, if it goes ahead. The sale price, as we all know, is $1.5m. This year Ecowise paid a dividend to the ACT through ACTEW Corporation of $240,531. Again, this is in the annual report tabled only yesterday. Let me put a proposition to this Assembly, Mr Speaker. If Ecowise does not grow at all - does not grow at all but remains constant in its operations - in only six years' time the ACT will recoup the entire worth of the sale price proposed by the privatisation today. Let me make that clear: In six years, if Ecowise remains constant in its trading, this Territory will get the equivalent of the sale price which is proposed today. Not only that, Mr Speaker, but our community will also have an asset which returns revenue to the Territory into the future. But we can have that only if it is retained in the public's hands.

Mr Speaker, if the future is as bright as Mr Wells outlines in his annual report, which we have no reason to doubt, with potential for growth of up to 10 per cent in key areas such as IT communications, then our community's return will be better still. If the company is going to grow, which is what it says in its annual report, we are going to get a better return. In fact, the proposition the Government is putting to us today is actually a false economy. Mr Speaker, I ask the Assembly again: Does it make sense to sell for a quick buck if our community loses in the long term?

Comparing the long-term view and the short-term money grab produces an even more stark picture. The Chief Minister indicated today that the total amount of money being paid out for the redundancy of workers at Ecowise amounts to a total of $1.17m. As we already know, the total sale price proposed by the Government is $1.5m. This means that, at the bottom line, the ACT's net gain by selling Ecowise Services is $400,000. That is the net gain. Take away the money to be paid out for redundancies and look at how much we will receive, and what is the net gain? It is $400,000. This, Mr Speaker, from an organisation with assets of over $2m. Any person on the street would say, on seeing this perspective, that selling an asset we all own for the equivalent of $400,000 does not make any sense. But that is exactly what the Government wants us to believe; that is the proposition they are putting to us today.

Let me underline this, Mr Speaker. This year Ecowise Services paid a dividend of $240,000. Its own general manager in this year's annual report outlines prospects for growth of the company in some areas of up to 10 per cent; yet by paying $1.17m for redundancies and receiving $1.5m for the sale, we will get a net gain of $400,000 - a net gain which will be matched by a stable return on dividends in less than two years.

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