Business of the House

The Hon. GREG PEARCE [11.06 a.m.]: I move:

That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow a motion to be moved forthwith that Private Members' Business item No. 115 outside the Order of Precedence, relating to the report of the Owen inquiry, be called on forthwith.

The motion is urgent because currently the greatest issues facing New South Wales are the electricity industry, climate change and capital for infrastructure. The motion calls for papers that have been prepared by Treasury. They already exist and producing them does not require any extra work. They form the background for the electricity sale, and they outline potential impacts of climate change, carbon trading, and future capital expenditure.

The motion is urgent because the Government, particularly the Treasurer, used figures in the public arena to form its argument. The public is entitled to see detailed modelling to test that against what the Government is telling them. The motion is urgent also because the budget will be presented on the next sitting day. It is very important to compare the documents and modelling to the budget. I commend the motion.

Dr JOHN KAYE [11.08 a.m.]: On behalf of the Greens, I support the claim of urgency in relation to this motion. This motion is highly urgent because the conclusions reached by the Owen inquiry are contested, not only by the overwhelming majority of people in New South Wales but also by a large number of experts who have spent a long time studying the electricity industry. The Owen inquiry reached a number of conclusions that not only are counter-intuitive but also are counter-factual and run hard against the known facts of the planning and operation of the electricity industry.

This motion is urgent also because, if we do not get those facts out into the public, the myth promulgated by both the Premier and the Treasurer—that we need to privatise the electricity industry to keep the lights on—will continue to be promulgated. The longer a myth is perpetuated, the closer it comes to appearing to be the truth. But the reality is that it is a long way away from true to say that privatisation of the electricity industry is necessary.

The motion is extremely urgent because the Iemma Government is steaming ahead with its plans to privatise the electricity industry, selling the retailers and leasing the generators, based on supposed evidence before the Owen inquiry, for which there is no independent check. Insufficient data was presented before the Owen inquiry to enable the major areas of logic put forward to be understood. The Greens support the claim of urgency for this motion and also will support the motion, if it is debated.

The Hon. ROBERT BROWN [11.10 a.m.]: The Shooters Party supports the motion for urgent debate, but for exactly the opposite reasons outlined by Dr John Kaye. It will be enlightening to see the detailed modelling behind the conclusions in the Owen report. It might finally keep the voodoo science of the Greens at bay for a little while.

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE (Parliamentary Secretary) [11.11 a.m.]: Clearly this motion for urgency will be supported in the House this morning. However, I want to place on record that the Government opposes the urgency of this motion—as it does for all the other urgency stunts in this place every Thursday. A number of other matters are listed on the Notice Paper, but this time the Opposition has been able to stitch up the numbers to establish urgency. The Government opposes urgency.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.


Motion by the Hon. Greg Pearce agreed to:

That Private Members' Business item No. 115 outside the Order of Precedence be called on forthwith.