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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (2 February) . . Page.. 52 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

that there are going to be terribly dire consequences for ACTEW if it is not sold. I think we need to examine the validity of that. The letter says first of all, "You asked my opinion". This is not fact; it is just the opinion of an individual.

Mr Moore: The chief executive of ACTEW.

MR KAINE: He says it is his opinion, Mr Moore. You can take issue with that if you like. It is only opinion. Then he says:

... my expectation, from discussions with the ACTEW Board -

which I will come to in a minute -

is that the following range of measures would need to be very seriously considered.

None of them are fact; they are all possibilities which the Chief Minister has turned into the reality that I talked about before, definitive fact. The first measure would be:

a further round of cost cutting - at least 10% ... this would require targeted redundancies.

As I pointed out, there are EBAs. You cannot just go out and do that. The second measure would be:

withdrawal from the competitive electricity market.

Would it? Maybe. That is not the only alternative. That is one opinion, that of the chief executive officer. The third measure would be:

a further capital repatriation of say $300 million.

That is a matter for decision. The fourth would be:

some further outsourcing of maintenance, information technology, personnel services etc - this would be a hot industrial issue.

That is a very interesting comment. But then we get down to the nitty-gritty, the fifth measure:

further rationalisation of property - we would consider selling ACTEW house and closing a number of shop-fronts.

He does not say "we will consider". He says "we would consider". But even if they did consider it and actually sell ACTEW House, would that be a major disaster? I suggest not. The Government has already sold off all its other office accommodation and leased it back, so why can they not do that with ACTEW House? Then Mr Mackay says that the sixth measure would be:

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