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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (27 November) . . Page.. 4800 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

I will take a little time to answer the questions I can of Mr Cornwell's so that, hopefully, we can put this matter to rest and get on with the difficult job that people are doing in cleaning up. Will there be some assets remaining? There probably will be some property assets as the various arms of Totalcare are absorbed into a logical structure within the departments. That will be worked through.

The time line will be as soon as possible, but it is a very difficult job. There is a myriad of contracts to be worked through; in particular, with the fleet unit. There is a whole heap of individual contracts. How long that will take is not totally within our control. That is a process to be negotiated with the parties involved in the contracts.

Will there be a cost? I have said already that the major cost will be the sweat and the effort of the administrators and the people in Totalcare, because a whole lot of work is needed from this point on. Will business units compete? Yes, business units will compete where necessary. For example, we have a laundry that will depend for its viability on a cost-volume basis. If it only does government work, its viability will be difficult to sustain. If it can increase its throughput, there will be economies of scale to make it viable. It has to compete. Will it compete on a level playing field? Yes, there are competitive neutrality laws in relation to how government agencies can compete.

How will staff be treated? They will be treated a whole lot better than they were over the previous years of Totalcare and there will be no forced redundancies. How many jobs were lost and how many people were put out of work during this disaster of your making?

The location will be the most logical location for the business units within the departmental infrastructure. The current board of directors is a board appointed out of our own administrators. The previous board of management have long resigned their posts, realising and accepting that that was really the only choice.

Ms Dundas made some reference to endlessly deferring decisions. I am sorry, Ms Dundas, but this is not a simple process. There is a lot of work to be done. There are lots of people working very hard to make sure that we get it right-to make sure that we have got our contractual basis right and our due diligence right-and it is being done as fast as these people can work. It is being done, I have to say, in an atmosphere of goodwill between the former management, the staff and the administration, and we intend for that to be the way that it should finish.

For Mr Smyth to say that the government has not done its work and that we should be concerned about the cost after the situation that his lot set up, as I said, I am just amazed and I think it is some commentary on his continued process of self-delusion. I commend the motion to the house.

Question put:

That Mr Quinlan's motion be agreed to.

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