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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 756 ..

MR SPEAKER: All right. Sit down, Mr Humphries.

Mr Berry: Yes, sit down.

MR SPEAKER: Thank you. Do you have a supplementary?

MR STANHOPE: Yes, I do, thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Moore: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I think Mr Stanhope has already had his supplementary. His question was something to the effect of: "Do you think ACTEW is going to bring more to the deal?".

Mr Stanhope: Is this a point of order, or is he just - - -

MR SPEAKER: Mr Moore, I am sorely tempted, but I will be - - -

Mr Stanhope: We are all sorely tempted.

MR SPEAKER: I will be generous on this point, providing, of course, you can keep some of your people quiet there too, Mr Stanhope. You may ask a supplementary, but I will have no hesitation in asking Ministers to sit down if this sort of nonsense keeps going.

MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, does the Treasurer not accept that by the Government committing ACTEW to the joint venture before it has settled this fundamental issue of the asset value of AGL, and the resultant quantum of the equalisation payment to be made by it - particularly in circumstances in which, in the space of this week, the Treasurer has said that the equalisation payment would probably be about $100m, but today he does not know if there will be one at all - it has betrayed the corporation's most important bargaining position? How will ACTEW possibly be able to negotiate a reasonable outcome on behalf of its owners, the people of the ACT?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, again all sorts of imaginary obstacles are being placed in front of the community so that they will tell us why we cannot go ahead with this. There is uncertainty - this is the argument here - about the size of the equalisation payment, therefore we cannot possibly make a decision today. Mr Speaker, the equalisation payment is determined by a process which results in the valuation of the assets which AGL, on one side, and ACTEW, on the other, bring to a joint venture.

Now you can imagine, I am sure, that valuing the assets of a major organisation like ACTEW - at least in terms of those things that are going to be brought to the table - and equally of a major organisation like AGL is a big exercise. It takes time and it costs a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars. No, in fact I have heard other estimates: Millions of dollars to do the necessary work to provide the valuations and other processes necessary to consummate the joint venture.

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