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Business of the House

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About this Item
Subjects -  Parliament: New South Wales; Energy; Privatisation
Speakers - Stoner Mr Andrew; Speaker; Scully Mr Carl
Business - Business of the House, Division, Motion
Commentary - Snowy Hydro


    BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Page: 21261


    Reordering of General Business

    Mr ANDREW STONER (Oxley—Leader of The Nationals) [2.22 p.m.]: I move:
      That General Business Notice of Motion (General Notice) No. 1150 [Snowy Hydro Ltd Sale] have precedence on Thursday 9 March 2006.

    I seek precedence for this motion because it must be debated now. This is a rushed fire sale by the Labor Government of the Snowy Hydro scheme simply to fill a budget black hole caused by its own mismanagement of the State's finances. The Nationals attempted to have this matter debated yesterday but that move was blocked by "Sparkles" Scully. It is obvious that Labor does not want this matter debated but the community does, and The Nationals will not give up.

    This hasty sale should be debated urgently because it is being rushed through for all the wrong reasons, namely, to fill Labor's black hole budget deficit. It is being done without proper consultation with affected communities, such as communities in Dalgety which already have had water diverted from Lake Mowamba, in which people fish and sail, due to this Government's desire to boost Snowy Hydro's profits prior to the sale. If this is happening now, what will happen after full privatisation? There is a pressing need to debate this matter because this Labor Government simply cannot be trusted.

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship to order.

    Mr ANDREW STONER: Last year, when asked about that privatisation by the Leader of the Opposition, the Premier denied it. Since then the truth has emerged but community concerns have continued to be ignored—concerns about the release of additional water for irrigation, concerns about public land around Jindabyne, and concerns about a lack of effective regulation governing a future private sector operator. I think they are very justified concerns, given Labor's appalling toll road deals with big business.

    There are concerns about a future compensation payment related to this Government's statements that it will increase the so-called environmental flows in the Snowy River by up to 28 per cent by 2012. Any proceeds of the sale may be eroded by a future compensatory payment. There are concerns that this Government would be underselling this iconic asset. It has been valued at up to $3 billion by the private sector yet the Government is talking about $1 billion, which is selling out taxpayers in New South Wales. There are concerns that the so-called Country Labor faction was gagged in the caucus meeting earlier this week. Labor did not even put the matter to a vote. It did not have the guts to have a vote on this issue. [Time expired.]

    Mr CARL SCULLY (Smithfield—Minister for Police) [2.25 p.m.]: I will deal first with one of the last comments made by the Leader of The Nationals relating to irrigators' water rights. This is what his Federal counterpart had to say—
    [Interruption]

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of The Nationals has completed his contribution.

    Mr CARL SCULLY: Honourable members should bear in mind that the Federal Government is a shareholder and has agreed to sell its share. The Leader of The Nationals ignored that. The Federal Minister for Finance and Administration, Nick Minchin, said this:

    It was disappointing to read media reports today that the NSW Opposition is claiming irrigators' water rights would be threatened by a privatisation of Snowy Hydro. They should know that no such threat exists.

    It is a complete furphy to suggest water rights would be threatened or in any way affected by a change of ownership of Snowy Hydro—they would not be …

    It is a bit rich for Opposition members to complain in this House about Snowy Hydro being sold. Do they remember the thousands of dollars that were rammed into their pockets before the 1999 election? They were going to sell all the distributors and retailers, and all the generators in Snowy Hydro. So it is a bit rich for them to come into this House and lecture us about this motion today. This motion is a complete falsehood. I will not allow it to have priority. It is a complete falsehood, as is the Leader of The Nationals.

    Mr Andrew Tink: Point of order: I ask the honourable member for Monaro to stop heckling the Minister.

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.

    Mr CARL SCULLY: The motion is premised on a falsehood. Snowy Hydro is not being sold because of a budget crisis; the budget is in strong shape. What I am about to say might alarm the Opposition. Snowy Hydro is being sold for the simple reason that the Government has decided the capital tied up in it should be should be transferred to other capital assets on behalf of the people of this State.

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call members of the Opposition to order.

    Mr CARL SCULLY: I have dealt with the concerns raised by the Leader of The Nationals. The motion does not need to be debated.

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of The Nationals will cease calling out.

    Mr CARL SCULLY: The matter has been resolved. The Leader of The Nationals has had the questions answered, and the request is denied. No!

    Question—That the motion be agreed to—put.

    The House divided.
    Ayes, 38
            Mr Aplin
            Mr Armstrong
            Mr Barr
            Ms Berejiklian
            Mr Cansdell
            Mr Constance
            Mr Debnam
            Mr Draper
            Mrs Fardell
            Mr Fraser
            Mrs Hancock
            Mr Hartcher
            Mr Hazzard
            		Ms Hodgkinson
            Mrs Hopwood
            Mr Humpherson
            Mr Kerr
            Mr McTaggart
            Mr Merton
            Ms Moore
            Mr Oakeshott
            Mr O'Farrell
            Mr Page
            Mr Piccoli
            Mr Pringle
            Mr Richardson
            		Mr Roberts
            Ms Seaton
            Mrs Skinner
            Mr Slack-Smith
            Mr Souris
            Mr Stoner
            Mr Tink
            Mr Torbay
            Mr J. H. Turner
            Mr R. W. Turner
            Tellers,
            Mr George
            Mr Maguire
    Noes, 53
            Ms Allan
            Mr Amery
            Ms Andrews
            Mr Bartlett
            Ms Beamer
            Mr Black
            Mr Brown
            Ms Burney
            Miss Burton
            Mr Campbell
            Mr Chaytor
            Mr Collier
            Mr Corrigan
            Mr Crittenden
            Ms D'Amore
            Mr Daley
            Mr Debus
            Ms Gadiel
            		Mr Gaudry
            Mr Gibson
            Mr Greene
            Ms Hay
            Mr Hickey
            Mr Hunter
            Mr Iemma
            Ms Judge
            Ms Keneally
            Mr Lynch
            Mr McBride
            Mr McLeay
            Ms Meagher
            Ms Megarrity
            Mr Mills
            Mr Morris
            Mr Newell
            Ms Nori
            		Mr Orkopoulos
            Mrs Paluzzano
            Mr Pearce
            Mrs Perry
            Ms Saliba
            Mr Sartor
            Mr Scully
            Mr Shearan
            Mr Stewart
            Ms Tebbutt
            Mr Tripodi
            Mr Watkins
            Mr West
            Mr Whan
            Mr Yeadon
            Tellers,
            Mr Ashton
            Mr Martin

    Question resolved in the negative.

    Motion negatived.




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