FED:O'Farrell may scrap Keneally COAG deals

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2011
FED:O'Farrell may scrap Keneally COAG deals

SYDNEY, Feb 13 AAP - Any agreements struck by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally during
the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting could prove meaningless, with state
Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell refusing to guarantee to honour them.

State and territory leaders will meet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Canberra
on Sunday, with health reforms top of the agenda.

Ms Gillard recently modified key components of the proposed reforms, including dropping
a plan to take a portion of the states' GST revenues, a move likely to appease the premiers.

But Mr O'Farrell said on Sunday he would not necessarily honour anything Ms Keneally
agrees to at COAG, should he win power during the March state election.

"We're not going to give a blank cheque to any agreement Kristina Keneally signs up
and the reason for that is obvious," he told Network Ten's Meet The Press program on Sunday.

"She's just been part of the worst deal done in NSW history with the flog off the state's
electricity assets.

"So we'll go through the fine detail before we sign up to anything because taxpayers
in this state quite frankly have been taken for a ride too many times."

Mr O'Farrell welcomed the dropping of the GST component from the reforms.

"I think the fact that GST is not now part of the mix is good," he added.

AAP mdg/nb

KEYWORD: HOSPITALS OFARRELL

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