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Public Utilities Privatisation

Mr MATT KEAN (Hornsby) [11.05 a.m.]: I move:

That the motion be amended by leaving out all words after "That" with a view to inserting instead:

"this House notes that:

(1) the Government has been clear on its program to raise funds for infrastructure through the long-term lease of the Sydney Desalination Plant, Port Botany, and the sale of the remaining electricity generators; and

(2) the Government is honouring its commitment to keep the poles and wires in public hands."

I congratulate the member for Northern Tablelands on his ongoing commitment to open, accountable and transparent government. I support his call for due process to be followed when matters are brought before the House—the body that has been elected by the people and for the people to serve their needs and interests. Those of us on this side of the House want to show that government and due process do not have to be the way that Labor made it for the past 16 years. I do not need to remind the House or those in the visitors' gallery of Labor's attempt to circumvent the Parliamentary process and to get around—

Mr Bryan Doyle: Proroguing.

Mr MATT KEAN: The member for Campbelltown is correct: proroguing Parliament is one example, which brings me to the botched Gentrader sale. That was a systemic attempt by the Labor Government to come up with a cynical system to ensure that the Gentrader model did not have to come before the Parliament. The result of that was a cost of $1.8 billion to the taxpayers of New South Wales. When the principles of accountability and transparency are not adhered to it costs the public. With that money we could have rebuilt Hornsby hospital 20 times over. The waste services transaction is another example of how the Labor Government tried to get around the Parliament. It tried to grab the money and run, but it was the then Opposition and the parliamentary process that delivered a good outcome for the community. So many examples of malpractice occurred under the previous Government, but this Government was elected to clean up the mess. It was elected with a commitment to make New South Wales number one again and to restore the State's economy.

The previous Labor Government left a mess behind for members on this side of the House. When we were elected people said we should expect the cupboard to be bare, but we did not expect Labor to have run off with the cupboard as well. Upon being elected we discovered quickly that there was a $5.2 billion black hole in the State's finances. We found out that we may have to borrow to pay salaries and wages. The former Labor Government, now the Opposition, left this State in a parlous condition. It is disgraceful. Treasury forecasts that the triple-A credit rating would have, at best, been lost by 2013. We were elected to address that and we are taking steps to make it happen. We have enforced Labor's own wages policy, imposed voluntary redundancies and tightened up the Police Death and Disability Scheme, and our Jobs Action Plan will provide 100,000 new jobs to kickstart the State's economy.

But we will also make clear to this House our program of releasing funds for infrastructure. We took the Sydney Desalination Plant proposal to the election. It was an election commitment. The Port Botany privatisation proposal was a result of the Lambert inquiry and we will bring that before the Parliament. We are committed to keeping the poles and wires in public hands, but we will bring the sale of the State's electricity generating assets before the Parliament. Barry O'Farrell and the Coalition Government are committed to open, transparent and accountable government. We know that it will take tough decisions to turn this State around and clean up Labor's mess, but we are prepared to do that in an open, accountable and transparent manner. That is what we took to the electorate, and that is what we will deliver.

This Parliament was elected by the people to restore the State's economy, to rebuild New South Wales and to build critical infrastructure that we so desperately need, and that is why we will bring to the Parliament the decisions and actions to make that happen. We will follow due process and we will deliver on our election commitments, but we will do so by bringing our plans and decisions to the Parliament. We want to show the public of New South Wales that politics and government do not have to be run the way that Labor ran them during its 16 years in office.

We will also show the public and the people of New South Wales that government and politics do not have to be the way that the Federal Labor administration in Canberra is being conducted at the moment—an ongoing soap opera that is lurching from one disaster to the next, with deals done in back rooms by faceless men who are more interested in delivering patronage to their mates than delivering real outcomes to citizens and communities in New South Wales and other areas throughout the country. The member for Northern Tablelands has correctly called for more open, transparent and accountable government. Processes are in place to ensure that the public can have confidence in the integrity of the political process. That did not happen under Labor, but it will happen under the Coalition Government. We will continue to fight to ensure that people have a say, we will restore confidence, and we will deliver the outcomes that people expect us to deliver.

Ms Linda Burney: So you are going to bring the sale of every public asset to the Parliament, are you? Is that what you are saying—you will bring every sale to Parliament?

Mr Gareth Ward: Linda, you were at the Cabinet table, so you should be careful.

Mr MATT KEAN: The member for Canterbury was at the Cabinet table when Labor approved the proroguing of Parliament to flog off the State's electricity assets. Labor went outside the parliamentary process. Labor came up with a tricky structure to rob the State of billions of dollars that could otherwise have been used to build much-needed infrastructure. As I have said repeatedly, the member for Northern Tablelands has called for more accountable, open and transparent government. That is what the amendment is about. I am delighted to speak about open, transparent and accountable government. I commend the amendment to the House.

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