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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 8 Hansard (29 October) . . Page.. 2466 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

asset which is ACTEW and also to some degree built up the liability which is our superannuation debt, it is appropriate to offset one against the other. Some see this as being inappropriate; but, Mr Speaker, I think there is a high degree of social justice, to use a term Mr Berry might be familiar with, at least rhetorically, in being able to identify a solution based on that ground. I think it is only appropriate to ensure that we look at those options.

I think you asked whether we would be addressing the liability of superannuation if we did not have the sale of ACTEW at hand. As I said this morning, we have to address both of those issues, and I suspect that we would take this course of action if one or the other of these imperatives was standing before us. But both imperatives are standing before us. Therefore, we propose, Mr Speaker, to take this action on both grounds.

MR BERRY: Given that the Government requires its agencies to contribute $340m to the Superannuation and Insurance Provision Unit over the next three financial years, yet has foreshadowed in the budget papers that $150m of that contribution will flow back to general government use, how can the Acting Chief Minister explain how the community can be sure that the $700m that the Government says will be applied to the Territory's superannuation liability from the proposed sale of ACTEW will, in fact, be applied to that liability?

MR HUMPHRIES: That is a question of government policy, and if government policy is to apply the proceeds of the sale towards the - - -

Mr Berry: Government policy can change.

MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, it could. It could, Mr Speaker; it certainly could. If Mr Berry, by saying that, is indicating the possibility of, say, a future Labor government - let us call it a Quinlan government, for argument's sake - deciding to raid this fund for the purposes of short-term budgetary requirements, then it would be open to them to do so, unless the Assembly took some step to protect that asset - - -

Mr Stanhope: Will you rule it out? Rule out that you will not do it.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR HUMPHRIES: I could say, Mr Speaker, as far as this side of the chamber is concerned, that we absolutely rule it out - absolutely - because we have - - -

Mr Berry: So, we will just have it sitting there in a big lump. How much did you take out this year?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, you asked the question; you are not answering it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry is very interested in asking the question and not getting an answer. The answer is, Mr Speaker, that under - - -

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