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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2943 ..

Works and Commercial Services - Corporatisation

MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, I put a question to Mr De Domenico in his capacity as Minister for Urban Services. Minister, last week you announced that Works and Commercial Services would be corporatised and your justification for that, if I might quote from your press release, was to meet "our commitment to competition policy reforms". However, Minister, last month you announced that you had repackaged the horticulture and litter pickers in City Services and you had renamed that business operation CityScape. Given that both of these areas will be required to tender competitively for work, can you explain, Minister, why Works and Commercial Services had to be corporatised but CityScape has not been?

MR DE DOMENICO: For the information to Ms Follett, 600 staff will go from the Department of Urban Services to Totalcare. For Ms Follett's edification, there is one particular union in this town that thought that the Government that did that was a bit wimpish. That was the word. It thought that we should have gone a bit further; that we should have taken a lot more staff out and taken them across to Totalcare. If Ms Follett believes that we should take some more staff away from Urban Services or anywhere else, we will be delighted to look at that.

Ms Follett: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have expressed no beliefs whatsoever. I have asked the Minister a question relating to the different treatment of two very similar parts of the Government's administration, and I think he should be asked to answer that or sit down.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Minister is answering the question as he sees fit.

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, Ms Follett might not like the way I am answering her question. If she does not like the answer, that is a different story.

Ms McRae: If only you were answering the question. Why do you not try answering it?

MR DE DOMENICO: Would you please tell the teacher to sit down, Mr Speaker? She is not going to be the leader of the Labor Party if she keeps interjecting the way she is, although perhaps Ms Reilly might want to be the leader. Who knows?

Ms McRae: Just answer the question. It would really help us all, Mr De Domenico.

MR DE DOMENICO: You will not be leader.

Ms McRae: You do have ministerial responsibilities.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Domenico, just answer the question. If the Assembly wants a debate on a substantive motion about leadership, it will have one, I am sure.

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