Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 2 Hansard (2 March) . . Page.. 519 ..

Ms Tucker: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker. I point to standing order 42, which says that the person with the call must address the chair. I have noticed more and more that we are having these little games occurring. We are now being asked to put a hand up. Mr Humphries is making a political point here. If we really want to get into engaging the chamber in that sort of thing, that is fine; but we will have to change the standing orders.

Mr Kaine: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Speaker, I refer you also to standing order 118.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Rhetorical questions are being asked here and I accept the fact that they are rhetorical.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I do apologise for making a political point in the ACT parliament! I do beg your pardon. I have been asked a seven-part question, Ms Tucker, so I am taking a bit of time to deal with it, but I am sorry. I will close by saying that there is a real advantage in ACTEW being part of an organisation, through a joint venture or partnership, which has a much larger customer base. If you think about that, it makes sense. It does make sense.

The questioner also asked whether there are prospects of dramatic improvement in any of the businesses other than through staff cuts or service reductions. I want to put on the record what we have said and what ACTEW itself has said about the staff position with respect to this partnership. If the partnership proceeds on 1 July, ACTEW have guaranteed, and the Government also gives this guarantee, that the initiatives by AGL in Canberra will create 100 permanent jobs and 100 temporary construction jobs in the ACT.

Existing ACTEW employees, numbering some 900, will have access to a broader range of career opportunities. Job losses within ACTEW will be contained to no more than 20 redundancies in the following two years, and all existing ACTEW employee entitlements will be protected, for example, as contained in awards and enterprise agreements. ACTEW have also advised that, in fact, there is a likelihood of at least 50 jobs being lost in the next 12 to 18 months in the event that the partnership does not proceed and, of course, there are risks also to the chance of ACTEW growing in that period. Mr Speaker, the suggestion about staff cuts is simply a scare tactic on the part of Labor. If people are concerned about staff and they are concerned about the employees of ACTEW, then they should help ACTEW get itself in a better, stronger position than it is in today.

MR SPEAKER: Do you have a supplementary question, Mr Quinlan?

MR QUINLAN: I did have. I will have to modify it, Mr Speaker, because I think I just heard the Treasurer tell us that he has not got much of a clue as to the impact of this merger.

MR SPEAKER: No preamble, thank you.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .