22037 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Wednesday 5 April 2006 ______ The President (The Hon. Dr Meredith Burgmann) took the chair at 11.00 a.m. The Clerk of the Parliaments offered the Prayers. COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Membership Motion by the Hon. John Della Bosca agreed to: That Mr Catanzariti be discharged from the Committee on Children and Young People and that Ms Sharpe be appointed a member of the committee. Message forwarded to the Legislative Assembly advising it of the resolution. FIREARMS SAFETY AWARENESS TESTING Production of Documents: Order Motion by Ms Lee Rhiannon agreed to: That, under Standing Order 52 there be laid upon the table of the House within 14 days of the date of the passing of this resolution the following documents in the possession, custody or control of the Cabinet Office, and the Minister for Police, NSW Police and the Ministry of Police relating to the Firearm Safety and Training Council Ltd or the New South Wales Shooting Association Ltd: (a) the finance agreement made on 17 April 1991 between the Minister for Police and the New South Wales Shooting Association Ltd to advance the association the sum of $600,000 to assist it to conduct firearms safety awareness courses, (b) any subsequent finance agreement between the Minister for Police or the Commissioner for Police and the New South Wales Shooting Association Ltd for the conduct of firearms safety awareness courses, (c) any document not already provided to the House as a result of the order of the House of 8 March 2006 regarding the finance agreements referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above, and (d) any document which records or refers to the production of documents as a result of this order of the House. UNPROCLAIMED LEGISLATION The Hon. Eric Roozendaal tabled a list detailing all legislation unproclaimed 90 calendar days after assent as at 4 April 2006. PETITIONS Gaming Machine Tax Petition praying that the House reconsider the decision to increase poker machine tax, received from the Hon. Rick Colless. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Postponement of Business Government Business Order of the Day No. 1 postponed on motion by the Hon. John Della Bosca. 22038 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 5 April 2006 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders Ms LEE RHIANNON [11.07 a.m.]: I move: That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow a motion to be moved forthwith that Private Members' Business item No. 188 outside the Order of Precedence, relating to the Education Amendment (Computing Skills Testing Requirement Delay) Bill 2006 be called on forthwith. This bill is essential to ensure a fair go for students in New South Wales high schools. The motion is urgent for this simple reason: the test is unfair and many thousands of students will be disadvantaged by it, and time is running out to fix it. Clearly the Government has got itself in a mess. The Minister for Education and Training could have fixed the problem if she had exercised her power under the Act to delay the introduction of mandatory computing skills tests by 1 January this year; but she failed to act. As a result, thousands and thousands of New South Wales year 10 students this year will be disadvantaged in their School Certificate examinations. That deadline for the Minister, 1 January, underlines the urgency of this bill. That date was set for a sound reason, to give schools adequate time to prepare for the School Certificate tests. It is now 5 April and the threat of those unfair tests is imminent. Let us be clear about why making the computing skills test mandatory is so unfair. The Education Act as it stands makes computing skills tests a mandatory, compulsory part of the School Certificate from this year. The School Certificate tests four years worth of learning: that is, all the computing skills that students have learnt in years 7 to 10 at high school. But many high schools in New South Wales just do not have enough computers, or if they have them they do not have the systems and support staff to make them reliable. Large numbers of students often share one computer workstation. Computers are being rolled out, including some right at the end of last year, but—and this is a key point—it is hardly fair to test year 10 students on four years worth of computing skills when he or she had access to a computer only recently. The Board of Studies has said that students can replace the computing skills test with a paper and pencil test—a tacit acknowledgement that many schools just do not have the necessary computer resources—but that hardly puts those students on a level playing field. This bill would remove only the mandatory requirement for the computing skills test. Schools well equipped with computers would still be free to choose to include the test. The bill would delay the mandatory introduction of the test until 2007 or later, at the discretion of the Minister. Across New South Wales high school students are working hard to get an education and to advance themselves. We all know the importance of a good education and good grades, but the education department is imposing an uneven playing field. Students with poor computer access are being forced to compete with students with excellent computer access. The Hon. Michael Costa: You are a Luddite. Ms LEE RHIANNON: I acknowledge that ridiculous interjection. Government members are being the Luddites here because they are forcing students to do a test. The Hon. John Della Bosca: Luddites are heroes. Ms LEE RHIANNON: I also acknowledge that interjection. The Government is revealing the problems of its social democrat history. It just is not fair. We are letting down those students. This problem is urgent because we are almost halfway through the year and we are running out of time. The Government got itself in a mess. The Greens bill will help the Government get out of that mess. The Hon. Tony Kelly: Point of order: The honourable member is no longer debating why standing and sessional orders should be suspended; she is debating the motion. The PRESIDENT: Order! Interjections are disorderly and the member with the call should ignore them. Ms Lee Rhiannon must confine her remarks to debating urgency and whether standing and sessional orders should be suspended. Ms LEE RHIANNON: All members must appreciate the urgency of this matter and bring the bill on for debate. 5 April 2006 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 22039 Question—That the motion be agreed to—put. The House divided. [In division] The PRESIDENT: Order! I call the Hon. Eric Roozendaal to order for the first time. Ayes, 16 Mr Breen Mr Gay Ms Rhiannon Dr Chesterfield-Evans Ms Hale Mr Tingle Mr Clarke Mr Lynn Mr Cohen Ms Parker Tellers, Ms Cusack Mrs Pavey Mr Colless Mrs Forsythe Mr Pearce Mr Harwin Noes, 17 Ms Burnswoods Mr Kelly Ms Sharpe Mr Costa Reverend Dr Moyes Mr Tsang Mr Della Bosca Reverend Nile Dr Wong Mr Donnelly Mr Obeid Tellers, Ms Fazio Ms Robertson Mr Primrose Ms Griffin Mr Roozendaal Mr West Pairs Mr Gallacher Mr Catanzariti Miss Gardiner Mr Hatzistergos Mr Ryan Mr Macdonald Question resolved in the negative. Motion negatived. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders Ms SYLVIA HALE [11.09 a.m.]: I move: That standing and sessional orders be suspended to allow a motion to be moved forthwith that Private Members' Business item No. 196 outside the Order of Precedence, relating to the sale of Snowy Hydro Limited, be called on forthwith. Standing and sessional orders should be suspended today because this matter needs to be brought before Parliament urgently. In December the Government announced its intention to privatise the Snowy Hydro scheme and late last week the Australian Parliament debated a motion to authorise the sale of its stake in the scheme. Yet there has been no debate in this Parliament about the merits of this proposal nor has there been any debate about the environmental and financial consequences of the sale for the people of this State. This matter is urgent because the Snowy Hydro scheme is an iconic piece of infrastructure that currently belongs to all the people of this State and this nation through the New South Wales, Victorian and Commonwealth governments. It holds an important place in the history of Australia's development, both as an economy and as a nation. The Snowy Hydro took 25 years and 100,000 migrant workers from 30 countries to build. From the time of the scheme's commencement to the time of its completion the Australian nation was transformed, not least by the tens of thousands of migrant workers who brought to this country their skills, their enthusiasm and their desire for a better life. The sale of such a part of our history—to take it out of the hands of the people and place it in the hands of a small number of investors—is a matter that should be scrutinised by this Parliament. 22040 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 5 April 2006 This matter is urgent not just because of the scheme's history but because of the role that the Snowy Hydro scheme now plays. Snowy Hydro Limited is one of the most profitable publicly owned electricity generating corporations in Australia. In 2003-04 its pre-tax return on equity was 22.2 per cent while the average for all publicly owned generators was 11.7 per cent. In 2004-05 its return on equity was slightly lower, at 19.8 per cent.