LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wednesday, 11 May 1994 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. Kevin Richard Rozzoli) took the chair at 2.15 p.m. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. ASSENT TO BILLS Royal assent to the following bills reported: Judges' Pensions (Amendment) Bill Lotteries and Art Unions (Amendment) Bill Mines Rescue Bill Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill Criminal Appeal (Amendment) Bill University Legislation (Amendment) Bill CRIMES (FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION) AMENDMENT BILL Bill received and read a first time. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE ______ APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION Mr CARR: My question without notice is directed to the Premier. Has the acting head - Mr West: On a point of order: the procedures of this House require a member, when asking a question, to refer to the Minister by his or her full title. It has been the constant practice of the Leader of the Opposition - though not of other members of the Opposition - to refer to the Premier by only one title, rather than by his full title. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order and ask the Leader of the Opposition to use the correct title. Mr CARR: My question without notice is to the Premier and Minister for Economic Development and Minister for the Olympics. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Londonderry to order. I call the honourable member for Drummoyne to order. Mr CARR: Has the acting head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, John Mant, today accused the Government of undermining the fight against corruption because of the Premier's failure to appoint a replacement for Mr Temby? Why is the Premier refusing to appoint a new commissioner when he has had five years' notice of Mr Temby's retirement? When will an appointment be made? Mr FAHEY: I also saw a statement issued by Mr Mant, the Acting Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, to that effect. I find it intriguing to hear the Leader of the Opposition give veiled support for the ICAC, because ever since the ICAC has been in existence the Leader of the Opposition and members of the Labor Party have abused the ICAC and have not used it in any shape or form, or given it the support that it deserves. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for East Hills to order. I call the honourable member for Ashfield to order. Mr FAHEY: With respect to a permanent appointment to the ICAC - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order. I call the honourable member for Barwon to order. Mr FAHEY: It must be made abundantly clear that the Government wholeheartedly supports the ICAC. The Government has been fully behind all the work that it has done. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order for the second time. Mr FAHEY: The Government believed it was important to create an institution to ensure that public sector corruption was removed from New South Wales. Institutions such as the ICAC are feared, of course, by Labor governments, not only in New South Wales - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Coogee to order. Mr FAHEY: - but by the Labor Government in Canberra and Labor governments in other States. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Lake Macquarie to order. Mr FAHEY: Those governments have never sought to emulate what this Government had the courage to do. Because of the uniqueness of the institution, it is essential that the successful applicant be capable of giving it leadership and have the necessary background to ensure that the ICAC remains an institution in this State. On a number of occasions, as the matter has been talked through, it has been put to me by the assessment panel involved in interviewing a number of applicants that the politicising of the ICAC by Labor in this State is a deterrent to anyone considering taking on the position of commissioner. That is a fact. It is clear that the ICAC is doing an outstanding job in this State. It saddens me that the honourable member for South Coast - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Coogee to order for the second time. Mr FAHEY: - is seeking to play politics in his own peculiar way. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Gordon to order. Page 2276 Mr FAHEY: The standing royal commission in this State, the ICAC itself - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for The Entrance to order. I call the honourable member for Wakehurst to order. Mr FAHEY: - knows all of the background and has all the necessary resources - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Smithfield to order. Mr FAHEY: - if the honourable member for South Coast is concerned about matters of corruption. On Monday morning of this week I listened with some interest to the Leader of the Opposition's usual weekly bulletin of his activities. He spoke about a judicial inquiry. If the Leader of the Opposition or any other member of this House has any evidence of corruption, that evidence should be referred to the ICAC. The Government certainly does not fear the ICAC. In fact, Labor sought to denigrate certain members on this side of the House in every shape and form. I refer to the honourable member for Maitland, and the Treasurer and Minister for the Arts. Labor sought to bring them down. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the Leader of the Opposition to order. I call the honourable member for Ashfield to order for the second time. Mr FAHEY: There is absolutely no shred of evidence to suggest that the malicious allegations made by Labor against those members were dealt with other than appropriately by the ICAC. Their names were cleared. For that reason alone, thank God for the ICAC. It stops the lot on the other side of the House from playing their games. At present a number of people are being interviewed for the position. Those people give me great heart because they are of the calibre that the institution deserves. I am hopeful, if Labor and other members of this House do not continue to destabilise the ICAC - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Riverstone to order. I call the honourable member for Illawarra to order. Mr FAHEY: - that the Government will be in a position to appoint a person of the highest calibre in the not too distant future. FEDERAL BUDGET EFFECT ON NEW SOUTH WALES Mr HUMPHERSON: My question without notice is directed to the Premier and Minister for Economic Development. Has he been advised what effect the Federal Budget will have on New South Wales? Will he provide details to the House? Mr Beckroge: On a point of order: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the fact that the honourable member for Davidson did not give the Premier his full title. Mr SPEAKER: Order! No point of order is involved. Mr FAHEY: The answer to the honourable member's question is of vital concern to the people of this State. The question does not play at the edges, as the Opposition does day after day in its questions in this House. Last night the Federal Budget was delivered. At best I can describe it as bland, but, perhaps more accurately, it was an opportunity lost. During the past years of recession, the Federal Government was clearly never prepared to tighten its belt, although it was prepared to make sure that the States were robbed of the funds that the taxpayers of each State were entitled to. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Hurstville to order. Mr FAHEY: During the recession New South Wales was fortunate. It made ends meet as best it could, while the Commonwealth Government expenditure continued to blow out. The first thing one looks for in any budget is an increase in taxes. Last night there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief from a number of people because it contained no increases in taxes. In fact it did in some areas, but, more importantly, there was no need to increase taxes in the Federal Budget, because the Federal Government increased taxes last year - Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Swansea to order. Mr FAHEY: - and those tax increases will continue this year. Who will forget last year's wholesale tax increase? That increase was of course a slug on the people of western Sydney. In addition, the fuel tax increases impacted on the people of western Sydney just as much. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Kiama to order. Mr FAHEY: Those taxes continue to bring more and more revenue to the Federal Government. The Federal Budget contains a number of presumptions, which might be best described as optimistic or, more than likely, incapable of being realised. One presumption suggested that business investment will increase by 14.5 per cent. Not stopping there, the budget suggested that in the current year business investment would be 20.5 per cent. The budget contained a presumption that employment would grow by 3 per cent. That figure is not matched by what some economic commentators believe to be the case. The New South Wales Treasury does not envisage employment growth of that level either. The budget also contained a presumption that inflation would be pegged at 2.25 per cent. Economic commentators and the Treasury believe that inflation will be at least 2.5 per cent. The Commonwealth Government is banking on increased revenue during the next four years of $33.7 billion, with increased revenue this year of $8 billion.