Page 3531 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 23 November 2021
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the local night-time economy. After the appalling way the government has treated business throughout this year, why should anyone trust its advice?
The Canberra Liberals recently met with Antony, who is the owner of a number of hospitality businesses here in the city. Antony told us that when the lockdown occurred he applied for his COVID-19 business support grant. Thirteen weeks later he is still waiting to be paid. Unlike what this government assumes, he is not a fraudster; he is an honest, hardworking Canberran who has chosen our city in which to start a family and run his business. Our city relies on people like Antony to take risks and dare to try something different, but under this government’s watch, he is guilty until proven innocent.
This government’s record on business is nothing short of appalling. First, we had ChooseCBR, a $2 million calamity that was so bad that the government had to shut it down on the day it was launched after weeks of the business minister telling us all how great it would be. Then we had the stroll-out of the business support grant. Amazingly, the government went from designing a scheme that seemingly did not care about risk to becoming the most fraud-wary government in the country! Of course, we need to minimise risk—there were months of assurances from Mr Barr and colleagues that they were prepared for a lockdown—and that is why you should prepare a system that is capable of delivering support payments in the preceding 18 months, not after the lockdown has started.
Then, to top it off, the government’s hardship scheme—the scheme that Mr Barr now wants us to believe is an additional payment rather than a critical life support to business—was delayed. The government simply does not get or care about business. And this budget, with no additional business support measures, fails our local businesses. (Extension of time granted.)
A strong economy lays the foundations for a strong society. We on this side of the chamber believe that by growing the economy we can deliver better government services that keep Canberrans healthy, safe and supported. Mr Barr argues that this budget provides record levels of funding to our health system but, after years of neglect and mismanagement, the state of the public health system speaks for itself. For years, our territory, the smallest and most well-off jurisdiction in the nation, has had the worst performance in the country, with the longest emergency department wait times in the nation, persistent high rates of workplace bullying, and the lowest percentage of urgent presentations seen on time.
Despite promises from the health minister, in January of this year, to have 70 per cent of urgent presentations seen on time by October, the ACT has again claimed the title of the lowest percentage of patients through the ED in four hours or less. The latest public hospital report card released by the Australian Medical Association again revealed that our hospital system remains the worst performing in Australia after 20 consecutive Labor budgets, despite commonwealth funding for our hospital at its highest level since 2008.
Despite facing critical staff and teacher shortages in education, this budget breaks a major election promise and proceeds to cut 188 jobs out of the education system. Last
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