Do I need a Ballast

G'day. I come from Australia and I have a 600watt HPS and a heap of 400w Metal Halide lights. The sockets are about 50 bucks and they are neutral so you dont have an earth wire and are therefore two pin plugs. I went to an electrician store and I said I wanted to hook up the light sockets with a two pin plug cord and he said that I would need a ballast, which I will get in the future but not now. Is he right, or can I just plug in my lights with a heavy duty cord? When the electrician knew what I was upto, he refused to help me so thats why I'm asking you guys and some other ppl I know. Any feedback would be useful....Thanks....Daniel

you need a ballast. It converts incoming current from wall plug to usable voltage for the bulb. Thats why they call them High Intensity Discharge, the ballast discharges voltage alot higher than your normal wall outlet. Good Luck with that!