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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 8 Hansard (29 October) . . Page.. 2519 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

After this process, a process that Mr Hargreaves praised, we also offered that by the end of next year we would review how the system was working. We would look at it to make sure that we had got it right. If it is too loose we will tighten it up. I hope that when that review occurs Mr Hargreaves will take the opportunity to put forward the amendment. He had some sensible ideas about the very nature of looking at the auditors and how it worked. I hope that at some time in the future that may come forward.

I hope the legislation will get through. I feel that it will get through. The sad thing is that what we have is a day of revelation. The Labor Party are the true ideologues in this place. They would like to think we are the ideologues. They have no regard for changing circumstance, no regard for changing technologies, no regard for changing markets, not now, not ever. It is head-in-the-sand sort of stuff that the Labor Party will be known for. I wish they would read the review of their own party and see what they have done.

Mr Speaker, these three Bills will see a new system that will allow the Government to charge less. It will be a system that will be more convenient. It is a system with better safeguards. It now offers three levels of security instead of the current two. The Government will set the standards. The Government will do the auditing and the records will still have to be lodged with the Government, unlike any other jurisdiction in Australia. The Government will continue to provide that protection through our auditing of what the private certifiers do.

It is curious that Mr Hargreaves put out a press release about midday, I am told, after all the months of consultation. We have not heard any of these concerns from Mr Hargreaves. It is quite curious. I guess his walk on the road to Damascus is subject to a left-hand turn, so we are now heading off in a left direction.

Mr Hargreaves: That is getting pretty ugly.

MR SMYTH: It is, following that left track, John. It is a disappointment to you to see the Right, the sensible Right, rolled by the loony Left yet again in the ACT. It is just absolutely sad. But it says here:

My concerns are that not enough safeguards will be set in place to protect the home owner.

I guess that flies in the face of what he said about it being tighter. That is quite odd. The press release says there are not enough safeguards but he acknowledges that it is a tighter system than we currently have. As I have said, Mr Speaker, it will go from two tiers to three tiers. The press release then says:

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