"When Parliament resumes on Tuesday at 2.15pm I will be moving a motion for an urgency debate on the Labor Party's fire sale of the Snowy Hydro," Mr Debnam said.

"It would be a further betrayal of the people of NSW if Morris Iemma again refuses to urgently debate his privatisation of the iconic Snowy Hydro," he said.

"I was the first to ask Morris Iemma about the privatisation of this Australian icon in a Parliamentary question on 30 November 2005.

"He refused to give a straight answer, yet announced the privatisation two weeks later. Ever since Premier Iemma has run away from any public or Parliamentary debate of the privatisation.

"On Tuesday next week, he must confront the issue and explain to the people of NSW why he is the only one in the state determined to privatise the heart and soul of Australia and the most strategic asset in the electricity market.

"I call on people attending Tuesday's rally in Hyde Park to also attend Question Time at 2.15pm to pressure Morris Iemma into backing down.

"The NSW Government owns 58% of the Snowy Hydro Scheme and Morris Iemma is the driving force behind this privatisation.

"It is clear public opinion is against the sale of the Snowy and it's my job as Opposition Leader to bring the concerns of the community into Parliament.

"I will do that on Tuesday and I urge Premier Iemma to agree to the debate and state why he's proceeding with the fire sale to prop up his budget crisis.

"If Premier Iemma is determined to proceed with the fire sale, he must at least tell us how he's going to spend the money.

"Back in 1997, when the legislation was introduced to Parliament to give the NSW Government the authority to privatise the Snowy, the Liberal and Nationals members were the only MPs to oppose it.

"The Greens, the Democrats and the independents all combined with the Labor Party to push the privatisation authority through Parliament.

"The 1997 authority gives the Premier the right to privatise the Snowy with the stroke of a pen. It does not need any new legislation to be passed by Parliament.

"I have also established a Upper House Inquiry into the fire sale to force the Iemma Labor Government to reveal all the details to the community and to embarrass them into backing down.

"I hope Morris Iemma has the leadership and the guts to front the inquiry and explain his decision.

"Liberal and Nationals MPs and candidates have local petitions for the community to sign to show their opposition to the privatisation and send a message to Morris Iemma and Labor.

"Premier Iemma must agree to the urgent debate in Parliament on Tuesday and agree to appear before the Parliamentary inquiry for thorough questioning from Liberal/Nationals MPs," Mr Debnam said.