(Bill Disallowance Motion, 22 June 2017, Legislative Assembly, NSW Parliament)

I rise to support the disallowance motion and briefly place on the record why I am concerned about the Services NSW (One-Stop Access to Government Services) Amendment (Approved Persons) Regulation 2017.

The regulation indicates a clear intention on the government’s part to transfer Services NSW operations to private for-profit companies. 

The government has not made clear the extent of this transfer, but given the regulation gives seven new companies access to Services NSW information, changes are not likely to be small.

Services NSW provides essential government services including registration of births, deaths, marriages, vehicles and businesses, and numerous licence services.

There is no reason to privatise these operations. Private companies will not necessarily provide a better service but their involvement poses serious risks to people’s personal and private information held by Services NSW. The community would be rightly concerned over the prospect of private for-profit companies managing their personal data and private companies are not covered by the same freedom of information laws and are not subject to the same oversight.

I note the concerns of the opposition about the seven companies listed in the regulation and some of their practices including tax issues and aggressive debt collection practices.

My constituents have expressed strong opposition against the privatisation of the land title registry, which risks increased fraud and costs and I believe privatising Services NSW is in the same vein. 

The government’s selloff of assets and services is going too far. Some services are best provided by governments, particularly where they deal with private and personal information, and where profit driven approaches could compromise service delivery.

I support the disallowance motion.

Read Member for Cessnock's Motion and full debate HERE.