The Greiner government, which promised "sensible, moderate but progressive" government, wasted no time in commencing its legislative agenda, announcing across-the-board spending cuts and plans to announce a mini-budget in June. A key government policy was to cut costs in education, including increasing charges for public education, eliminating free public transport for school students and reducing teaching staff (2,400 teaching staff and 800 support staff) through creating composite classes and closing smaller schools, while looking for public assets to sell (ultimately $340 million of assets were identified) and capital works projects which could be abandoned. However, it was forced to defer its plans to repeal Aboriginal land rights legislation (an election commitment) and reduce the power of the Ombudsman to investigate the police when Democrat and Call to Australia members of the Upper House combined with Labor to defeat these pieces of legislation. By September 1988, having promised at the election to run the state like a business, the government were able to announce serious progress towards reducing the state debt and its first budget projected a surplus, and were trying to resolve housing pressures caused by rapidly increasing house prices (which rose from $65,000 to $165,000 in the twelve months to October). Another election promise realised by the new Government was to create the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) capable of investigating allegations of corruption and graft against the government and within the state. In its first year, it investigated large donations to the Labor and National parties. Despite significant pressure from the parliamentary Nationals, whose leader was implicated in one of the investigations, Greiner refused to budge or to dilute ICAC's powers.