ENERGY INDUSTRY PRIVATISATION
Mr ARMSTRONG: My question is directed to the Premier. Did he say in April 1995 that he would be a "bulwark against privatisation" and that by maintaining public ownership of assets, such as electricity, people would see it as "proof positive that the Labor way is the better way"? Is the Premier’s broken promise not an admission that the Labor way is the wrong way?
Mr CARR: I have never resiled from my faith that the Labor way is the better way. That belief has been confirmed by the conference of the Shires Association of New South Wales, at which the budget was warmly received by country representatives.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Leader of the National Party to order. I call the Leader of the Opposition to order.
Mr CARR: The association has been receptive to my colleagues’ initiatives in relation to rural New South Wales.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Georges River to order for the second time. I call the Leader of the National Party to order for the second time.
Mr CARR: The association is appreciative of the fact that the Government is taxing the big city to subsidise services to rural New South Wales. I am embarrassed by the support that the Government has received for its revenue measures - even Juan Antonio Samaranch unequivocally endorsed the bed tax.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order.
Mr CARR: Mr Speaker, forgive the Deputy Leader of the Opposition - he is still jet-lagged. As I said in the House last week, the money that the Government will raise with the bed tax will keep trains running in rural New South Wales. It is as simple as that. We need $50 million to keep Countrylink on track, and that is the amount that we will raise from the bed tax.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order for the second time.
Mr CARR: I stand by my previous answer.