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The Hon. C. J. S. LYNN: My question is directed to the Treasurer, and Minister for State Development. Is the Treasurer aware that Integral Energy has introduced a 16.4¢ per day service charge? Is he further aware that the introduction of this charge has not been widely advertised and that customers are only finding out about it when they receive a pamphlet with their bills? Considering the fact that Integral Energy has a high rate of scheduled outages, can customers expect to be reimbursed for the days when they do not have any power?
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: I thank the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn for his question. He is the only Opposition member to direct a question to me today, which goes to show that he is leadership material after all.
The Hon. R. H. Colless: He is more intelligent than you thought he was.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: No, I did not go quite that far. As honourable members know, the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn is the strategy adviser to the Leader of the Opposition in the other place, the Hon. Kerry Chikarovski. Indeed, I understand that that is his official post within the parliamentary Liberal Party. Now he has been stripped of that as well. He was a shadow Minister for a while; he was the shadow Minister for Western Sydney and the shadow Minister for Public Works and Services, but they stripped him of that.
The Hon. Patricia Forsythe: He didn't want it.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: He didn't want it. Is that what the Hon. Patricia Forsythe said?
The Hon. C. J. S. Lynn: No, that is not the case. Stop verballing me!
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: What did you not want? Your colleague said you did not want something. What was it that you did not want? Did you not want a role on the Opposition front bench or did you not want to have anything to do with Kerry Chikarovski? What did the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn not want to do?
The Hon. J. H. Jobling: He did not want this diatribe. He wanted an answer.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: The Hon. J. H. Jobling should not jump to the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn's defence, because he does not support the honourable member. He would slit your throat as quickly as he could if no-one was watching.
The Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti: Point of order: As the Minister said, the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn asked a highly intelligent question. However, the Minister then went for the honourable member's throat. I ask you to direct the Minister to answer the intelligent question. If he cannot answer the question he should simply say, "I can't answer the question" and sit down, or he should simply answer it.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: I did not go for the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn's throat. What I said was that given half a chance the Hon. C. J. S. Lynn would slit the Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti's throat if no-one was looking. It is a good question. Most electricity distributors and retailers have a service charge.
The PRESIDENT: Order! The Minister will resume his seat while I rule on the point of order. As I have continually told the Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti, it is traditional in this House for Ministers to answer questions in the way they see fit. It would appear that the honourable member misheard what the Minister said. I ask the Minister to resume his answer to the question.
The Hon. M. R. EGAN: I have concluded the answer.