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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 842 ..
MR KAINE (continuing):
not the intention. Without the passage of the subsequent Bill, where the mechanisms for achieving this objective and the conditions that apply to it are set down, he is unconstrained.
If we pass this motion now, and for some reason the debate on the legislation is adjourned today and not completed, the Minister, tomorrow morning at 8.30, can divest the ACT of all the main undertaking assets in any way and in any manner that he chooses. I do not think that is what the Opposition meant when they decided not to debate the two things cognately.
All this amendment does, Mr Speaker, is put the cart behind the horse. It simply says that, while we approve of the Minister doing this, he can do it only after the enabling legislation has been passed. I think it is a straightforward, logical amendment.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
MR QUINLAN (7.32): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to move the two amendments circulated in my name together.
Leave granted.
MR QUINLAN: I move:
(1) After "That this Assembly approves the" insert "negotiation of the";
(2) After "the Australian Gas Light Company" add "and directs the Government to table the following documents between ACTEW and AGL as and when they are completed:
(a) the Heads of Agreement;
(b) the Partnership Agreement;
(c) the Operating contracts: and
(d) any other significant documents relating to the primary elements of proposed partnership arrangements and operating procedures.".
I move these amendments for, I think, reasonably obvious reasons. The first amendment relates pretty well to something Mr Humphries said earlier today. He was accusing this side of the house of castigating the Government for spending money on investigations of proposals on the one hand and then castigating the Government for not doing any preparatory work, so I gather we have not done any preparatory work on another deal. This is exactly the middle ground. This is the Assembly supporting the negotiation of this deal with AGL.
I only move this amendment at this stage because it is quite clear that the Government has the numbers to get the motion up. This gives the Government the okay to negotiate but does not go the further mile and say that this Assembly will effectively have no more say in how and what happens beyond this point, what happens to the single largest asset in the ACT and what happens to a very significant employer in the ACT.
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