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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 9 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 2669 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

(2) the Committee be composed of:

(a) one Member to be nominated by the Government;

(b) one Member to be nominated by the Opposition; and

(c) two Members to be nominated by the four Members of the cross benches

to be notified in writing by 3 pm on Thursday, 19 November 1998 and duly appointed by the Assembly;

(3) the Committee report by the first sitting day of February 1999, and the Government take no action in relation to the sale of ACTEW until the Assembly has considered the Government's response to the Select Committee report; and

(4) the foregoing provisions of this resolution have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.

As most members are aware, the Labor Party has been involved in negotiations with Mr Osborne and Mr Rugendyke about proposals to establish a select committee to inquire into certain aspects of both the proposed sale of ACTEW and the issue of the ACT's unfunded superannuation liability. In the context of the debate in which this Assembly and the community are engaged in relation to the proposed sale of ACTEW, Mr Osborne in particular has indicated a very strong view that his concerns about the ACT's unfunded superannuation liability do impinge on his ability or willingness to make a decision about the wisdom of the Government's proposal to sell ACTEW.

As a consequence and in recognition of Mr Osborne's concerns about the superannuation liability, a concern that I think everybody in this place and perhaps in the community who has thought about it shares in the context of the difficulties that it does represent for a government, the Labor Party and Mr Osborne have had fruitful discussions about the terms of reference for a select committee that might inquire into those issues. As a consequence of those discussions we have, with Mr Osborne and Mr Rugendyke, developed terms of reference that, to the extent that they deal explicitly with the superannuation liability, have been endorsed by Mr Osborne. I do not know specifically about Mr Rugendyke, but I believe so.

The Labor Party remains of the view that any select committee that might be established by this Assembly should take the opportunity to look at some aspects of the proposed sale of ACTEW that anybody coming to a considered and educated view about the wisdom of the sale of ACTEW would wish to have some advice or knowledge on. To that extent, the Labor Party is concerned that we have some understanding of the downstream economic impacts of the sale of ACTEW. It is notable that ABN AMRO, in their report on ACTEW, specifically state that their report does not actually canvass some of those downstream economic impacts.

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