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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (7 March) . . Page.. 600 ..

MR CORBELL: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. I thank the Treasurer for his answer. Given that ACTEW had a work force of 915 as at June 1999, will you confirm that all bar those 20 employees you indicated in your previous answer will be transferred to the joint venture? Can you provide the Assembly with a break-up of where the new jobs will come from and who will employ them?

MR HUMPHRIES: First of all, as I said, the latest figure on ACTEW employees, as of a few days ago, was 901; so that is the state of play. The point has to be made that we are actually losing employees all the time from ACTEW.

Mr Quinlan: Shedding, I would have thought.

MR HUMPHRIES: Shedding, losing, it is all the same, Mr Quinlan. Those job loses have gone on throughout the last 12 months, probably longer, because ACTEW has an overriding concern to ensure that it remains capable of protecting the value of the asset which it represents in the hands of the ACT community. That is why ACTEW continues to shed jobs. That is why it has lost 200 jobs in the last year. Two hundred jobs is a very heavy price to be paying. I think members need to be reminded of the fact that guaranteeing that only 20 further jobs will go is a fairly significant benefit to this community, given that in the last little while alone there has been a significant number of jobs shed from ACTEW.

It is not necessarily the case that all the present ACTEW employees will be employed in the joint venture. That remains open to the joint venture, but is not necessarily a requirement of the joint venture. If, for some reason, it was felt that some jobs should remain within ACTEW itself, they would do so. I cannot provide you with a break-up of how they will be employed. I think you asked about the 100 new jobs. A small number would be employed on a permanent basis in the operation of the gas-fired power station, although such operations are quite efficient; so only a very small number, probably well under 10 people, would be employed in that particular business. I think a large number would come through the establishment of a call centre in the ACT by AGL. I understand that other corporate functions of AGL are being considered for relocation here and they will generate a large part of the other jobs. The details of those exact numbers will be provided in due course when they are clearer. But the guarantee is there - - -

Mr Corbell: How do you know that there are to be 100?

MR HUMPHRIES: Because the guarantee has been provided by - - -

Mr Hargreaves: It is a guarantee, is it?

MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, it is a guarantee. It has been provided by ACTEW and the details of that guarantee have been put on the table already in this place.

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