Page 3984 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 15 Sept 2009
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Mr Corbell: It was a Brendan Smyth special.
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, a Brendan Smyth special. There we are. We do not hear that; that is never incorporated in the standard Brendan Smyth TOC speech that he gets up and dusts off every now and again. Maybe we should get that injected into the speech, Mr Smyth. If you could get your advisers to put the history of Totalcare into your speech as a comparison between—
Mr Smyth: But when did Rhodium start?
MS GALLAGHER: We are not talking about Rhodium; we are talking about Totalcare. I am not talking about Rhodium in this example; I am talking about Totalcare. This is about Totalcare. We have not reflected on your role in anything, Mr Smyth, for quite some time. You sit here and reflect on my role all the time. I am just giving a little bit of perspective here, and there we see—
Mr Seselja: Did you want to talk about it? You’ve got 7½ minutes.
MS GALLAGHER: Well, I am more than happy to talk about Rhodium at length, as it has been, and I have fronted up to talk about Rhodium in this place a number of times. But I have not seen any keenness or enthusiasm from Mr Smyth to come in here and talk about his role in Totalcare. In fact, I do not think I have ever heard him talk about his role in Totalcare. Here we go. On 14 July we set about winding down that abysmal company, Totalcare. In fact, we are still trying to tie up Totalcare now because of the disarray the superannuation records were in at that point in time. We are still trying to find people who worked for Totalcare and pay them the additional superannuation they were owed.
We transferred the various businesses back into the government agencies. However, it was not possible to transfer the fleet business back because of the tripartite nature of the reverse novated leases administered by Totalcare. The Totalcare board advised that leaving the existing business in Totalcare would hinder the fleet business because of several complex residual issues that needed to be resolved, including the longstanding superannuation liabilities and insurance claims, which are still being worked through. This left us with little choice than to create a separate territory-owned corporation—namely, Rhodium—to conduct the fleet business.
Mr Smyth: You set up Rhodium?
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, Mr Smyth. What? You have just uncovered that, have you? Of course we set up Rhodium. We had to set up Rhodium because we were trying to wind up Totalcare, and we could not wind up—
Mr Smyth: So Rhodium’s not your fault. You had to set up Rhodium.
MS GALLAGHER: What? You were there; you participated in the debates, Mr Smyth. You participated in the debate, and Rhodium has had a troubled history, I will accept that. I do not think anyone in this place would not accept that.
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