Page 573 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 10 February 2009
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Corporations Act to provide a detailed statement to the Assembly. This reporting arrangement ensures that the Assembly is kept informed about any new developments concerning the wind-down process and is in addition to the information contained in the annual report and the statement of corporate intent.
I commend to members the revised resolution seeking the agreement of the Assembly to allow for the disposal of any of Rhodium’s main undertakings as the opportunity arises.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (9.09): Mr Speaker, all the ACT Greens will support this motion today. I must highlight the ongoing problem that is Rhodium Asset Solutions. I understand that today’s motion will allow the government to pursue an alternative approach to possibly receiving revenue from the sale of parts of Rhodium. However, we must remember that this strategy is now only being utilised after the failure of the government to sell Rhodium over the two-year period between 2006 and 2008.
Both the ACT Auditor-General and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts found that there had been excessive and inappropriate spending by the company and poor management practices. Each made a series of recommendations on transparency and governance, which I hope have been implemented by MAXimusSolutions Australia, who were brought in at great expense to manage the company during the caretaker period. No doubt we will be informed of these details when the government submits their response to the public accounts committee. This response is due to the committee three months after the report of its initial findings. Considering the findings were delivered in August of last year, we should be seeing this report any day now.
In supporting this motion, the Assembly will be approving the possible transfer of a significant number of short and long-term leases. It is vital that safeguards are put in place to ensure that no current leaseholders are disadvantaged under any new arrangements, and all leaseholders are kept well informed of any variations to the current provisions. Perhaps Rhodium should have been called Rodeo, as it appears we may have been taken for a ride. But, Mr Speaker, before we consider getting back on the horse, it is imperative that very careful consideration be given to these types of ventures in the future.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (9.11): I do appreciate the joke that it should be called Rodeo. I think that is probably appropriate. I thought maybe it was Derby day and we just keep falling off all the steeples. But the sentiment is quite accurate.
It is interesting that in the tabling statement the minister starts by saying that the sale of Rhodium would not proceed. In plain talk, the sale of Rhodium fell through because the government not only could not run Rhodium; they could not even sell it. In fact, they could not run it and they could not sell it and taxpayers will suffer. Now, because of the global financial crisis, it is probably worth even less than it was at this time last year.
I think the minister needs to tell the Assembly and, through the Assembly, the people of the ACT how much money has actually been lost through the mismanagement of Rhodium in which the two shareholders, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief
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