Page 3621 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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When you read the document, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, and I am sure that you will, you will discover that the effect of it is to say that only Burmah Fuels will get one of these properties.
Mr Connolly: That is not true.
MR KAINE: You explain why it is not true. First of all, they are going to have to put up close to $3m before they can even get onto the site. These are your documents, Minister. You tell me how many independents there are, other than Burmah, that can produce $3m to get into a site, to start with. That is why there have not been any independents here before. You said to the committee that nobody, except the majors, could afford the $3m to get into a site. Now you are imposing the same $3m obligation on any - - - (Extension of time granted) Who, other than Burmah Fuels, is going to come along with $3m? None of the little independents will be able to. Some of them already exist in this town and would love to get part of the action. The Minister has made darned sure that none of those people are going to get access. The other two major independents who might come in are excluded by a second condition that says that they have to be able to guarantee supply. Mr Sorbello gave evidence to the committee that the other two possible contenders had already indicated that they could not meet that requirement. They could not guarantee supply. So, here we have documents that say that you have to come up with about $3m before you can even get in and you have to be able to guarantee supply. Those of us who sat on the committee - I presume that the Minister is just as well informed as we are and, if he is not, he ought to be - know that there is only one company that can comply with those requirements in the specification, and that is Burmah Fuels. How, then, is the Minister going to satisfy a commitment that he has already given - that Burmah Fuels will not be given access to all of these sites - if Burmah Fuels is the only contender, and the evidence suggests that they are?
Mr Connolly's original intention was to deal with the oil majors. He said that up front. He has absolutely failed. He has had no impact at all on the oil majors. Of course, now he justifies the outcome of all of this on the basis of saying, "We got the prices down, did we not?". He has had no effect on the wholesalers. He has merely given Burmah a preferential position in the ACT. This document is going to give them a much more substantial preferential position than they have now. I would like to hear Mr Connolly refute that. Any beneficial effect that might have been generated will be a short-term one, because Mr Connolly has no guarantee whatsoever that Burmah Fuels will continue to keep prices down. Their contract does not oblige them to do so. It places no onus on Burmah Fuels to sell their fuel at any price. They can sell it at whatever price they like. What he has done has caused a group of local businessmen some enormous financial difficulty, from which will flow loss of income and loss of equity value in their businesses. He will be the architect of major business losses, leading to business closures and bankruptcy.
We know that nearly one-third of the local fuel station operators in this town are up against the wall right now because of Mr Connolly's decision. He has merely transferred about $9m a year out of the pockets of some 80 small local businessmen and into the petrol tanks of petrol users. Mr Connolly thinks that that is okay; but I suggest that it is clear that Mr Connolly has no interest whatsoever in maintaining small business in this Territory. The Chief Minister can mouth all the platitudes that she wants to about how
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