Minister for Transport, and Minister for Tourism

Mr O'FARRELL (Northcott) [12.47]: I move:

That this House condemns the Minister for Transport for misleading the House on the record of the previous Coalition Government in reducing the operating costs of and Government contributions to State Rail and State Transit.

In debate earlier today the honourable member for Fairfield said that we should be debating serious matters in this Chamber. There can be no more serious matter than a Minister of the Crown misleading this House. My contribution this morning will be brief because the situation is open and shut: the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Tourism misled the House about the previous coalition Government's record in reducing the operating costs of and government contributions to State Rail. On 1 June last year the Minister made several statements in answer to a question asked by the honourable member for Peats. He referred to the maladministration of the transport portfolio under the previous Government. He spoke about "the destruction of railways". He said, "They said that the costs would be reduced. Reductions were certainly made, but not in costs." He went on to say, "The coalition Government achieved a real reduction in passengers."

I note that the Minister misled the House as recently as last week when referring to passenger numbers. He quoted figures at the peak of the bicentennial and not the 1987 figures, which show that during the seven years of the coalition Government passenger numbers went up. On 1 June 1995 the Minister for Transport said, "The previous Government did not reduce costs." He repeated that statement and then concluded by saying, "all the coalition achieved was a 50 per cent increase in the cost to taxpayers of running the system". On 1 June 1995 the Minister for Transport deliberately misled this House. I was so concerned about this matter that I placed a question on notice seeking to give the Minister an opportunity to correct himself. I asked a number of questions including:

(3) Does he still stand by his statement that the cost to taxpayers of running State Rail increased under the previous Government?

The Minister's answer given in the Questions and Answers paper on Wednesday, 20 September 1995, three months after he originally misled the House in this matter, was "Yes." In other words the Minister claimed again that the cost to taxpayers of running State Rail increased under the previous Government. The Minister further said that Government contributions to both State Rail and State Transit did not decline from 1990-91. In fact he said:

. . . from 1990/91 to 1994/95 the total Government contribution to State Rail and State Transit has risen by $293 million from $930 million to $1,223 million.

That was the second occasion within six months of becoming a Minister that the Minister for Transport deliberately misled this House, admittedly on this occasion not speaking personally in this Chamber but in a published document of this House. It is clear that the Minister misled the House if one looks at two documents produced by the same bureaucracy - the Treasury Department - under two governments. A reference to Budget Paper No. 2 of 1994-95 and to Budget Paper No. 2 of 1995-96 clearly exposes the Minister as a liar, he having misled this House on 1 June during question time and on 20 September in the Questions and Answers paper. I refer members to Budget Paper No. 2 produced by Treasurer Egan when the Carr Government was in charge, when it called the shots and had the control of the bureaucracy. It makes interesting reading. At page 4-113 under the heading "State Rail Authority", the first statement is:

The State Rail Authority has continued to make savings in expenditure leading to reductions in Government contributions.

That is the first sentence, before any figures are given and before the Minister can bamboozle us with statistics which inevitably turn into lies. It is a plain simple English sentence that proves that this Minister misled this House on two occasions in relation to the previous record of the coalition government: the previous record of my predecessor the Minister for Transport in the coalition Government, Mr Bruce Baird; and the previous record of the representative of one of the members in the gallery who, during his seven years of administration did both things that this Minister denies. Page 4-114 of the Carr Government's Budget Paper No. 2 of 1995-96, its first budget, prepared under the auspices of the Labor Party and a Labor Government of which the Minister for Transport is a member, says:

. . . the level of government contributions to the Authority for social programs and for operating losses reduced in real terms by $27.9 million (5.9 per cent) in 1994-95 compared with the previous year and by $122.7 million (21.5 per cent) in real terms compared with 1990-91.

The next sentence states:

Over the four year period since 1990-91, there has been a cumulative reduction in these Government contributions of more than $309.8 million in real terms.

I refer to the first occasion when the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Tourism deliberately misled this House when he said that the previous Government did not reduce costs. On 1 June 1995 he said:

After seven years . . . all the coalition achieved was a 50 per cent increase in the cost to taxpayers of running the system.

Michael Egan and the Treasury budget papers state the opposite, and it is clear that this Minister has deliberately misled this Parliament. I know the Minister for Transport enjoys this but 1995-96 Budget Paper No. 2, page 4-116, Table 4.3 headed "Public Transport Authorities Operating Costs and Government Contribution for both State Rail and State Transit" shows that over the period of the former Government, from 1991-92 to 1994-95 there were savings of $122.7 million in government
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contributions to State Rail and of $18.8 million to the State Transit Authority. At times Opposition members wonder whether the Minister for Transport has anything between his ears. He has deliberately misled this House. The fact is that in 1988 his Government left the State transport system in a mess. Bruce Baird, Nick Greiner and John Fahey made improvements, as shown by the figures and by Michael Egan's figures, but this mealy-mouthed, small-minded Minister cannot accept that. He cannot pat Bruce Baird on the back and say, "Well done" on behalf of the taxpayers of New South Wales. This mealy-mouthed, mean-spirited liar stands condemned for misleading the House on two occasions.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will withdraw the word "liar".

Mr O'FARRELL: I withdraw. [Time expired.]

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Gibson.

Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted.