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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 110 ..

MR DE DOMENICO: I will say it once again, so that the community might be aware of the wonderful benefits of the Government's decision to take on board something that has been around since 1993-94 and which this mob opposite were too frightened of. They were frightened because of the word "competition". This report recommended competition, and we know that that is anathema to the people opposite, which is why they sat on their hands and did nothing.

Under the revised scheme, motorists will be required to have a green slip in order to choose their insurer - once again, choice. There will be some variation allowed in an insurer's premium of plus or minus 10 per cent to allow groups with a better claims history to be rewarded. Once again, it is a basic scheme, a basic system, that the people opposite were against. I expect that competition will be in place by 1 January next year. In the meantime, the Department of Urban Services will be seeking input from affected organisations - that is, community consultation, which the people opposite talked about often but never did themselves - in the development of some of the finer details of the implementation. This will include organisations such as the ACT Law Society and the Insurance Council of Australia.

The Government will be amending legislation to encourage a competitive market, and I hope to see other insurers writing third-party insurance as soon as possible after the middle of the year. While we will continue to review the scheme, at this stage the Government has rejected the more severe restrictions on access benefits that apply in New South Wales. The aim is to ensure that the CTP insurance scheme operating in the ACT is fair and effective and provides speedy compensation at an affordable price.

MS McRAE: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr De Domenico in his capacity as Minister for Business, Employment and Tourism. Mr De Domenico, my question relates to the responsibility of company directors for debts. I refer specifically to what has happened to the debts of the Canberra Region Campaign, especially those to local firms? What is your policy in regard to the directors of organisations such as this? Are they responsible for the debts of the organisation in the same way as company directors in circumstances where directors' actions or inactions have caused the financial difficulty?

MR DE DOMENICO: I thank Ms McRae for the question. The Government has been in constant discussion with the appointed liquidators, Ferrier Hodgson, who have coordinated the sale of the Canberra Region Campaign assets. I can announce that the Confederation of Australian Industry, Confact, have emerged as the industry association who will take over the Canberra region logo and continue some of the activities of the campaign. The Government fully endorses Confact's commitment to developing the region. I know that they are presently determining the details of future activities, and I wish them well in their endeavours.

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