Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support amending the title of the bill as indicted. The proposed changes do not reflect the bill's objectives. Privatisation is only a means to an end where it is appropriate. Privatisation is not the primary objective of the bill or the initiatives it supports. The government is keen for states to release capital from assets better managed by the private sector and it wants to encourage the states to use the proceeds of those sales to build greenfield infrastructure, infrastructure in which the market would not necessarily invest without government participation but infrastructure which is nevertheless important to Australia's economic growth.