Page 1153 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 August 1989
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"the ACT budget remains on track". I am not that confident, and I do not know how the Chief Minister can be either. It may be reassuring, but it scarcely acknowledges the true situation.
Mr Speaker, there are a couple of incidental points. Sustained higher interest rates are having a significant effect on the ACT, just as they are elsewhere in Australia. Canberrans have mortgages, and sizeable ones at that, just as other Australians do elsewhere. The Commonwealth budget, which has done nothing about mortgage rates, is going to continue to have its effect on us.
Retail sales activity has been reducing considerably during 1989. Go and talk to any retailer out there and find out what has been happening to him since about last February. Retailers are in dire straits. The effect on business, particularly small business, is great and could, if it continues, be devastating in many cases. But what does the Federal budget do about that? Not a thing. Nor, I submit, Mr Speaker, does ours.
The Federal Government, to its credit, has given some $250,000 to the ACT for mortgage relief from a total national package of about $15m. However, at the same time it has reduced the amount available nationally under the first home ownership scheme by some $30m. So it is $15m in for mortgage relief and $30m out for first home buyers. The net effect is a reduction over the nation of $15m. We are going to feel the effect of that here, just as everybody else will.
So the net effect on our economy has to be a negative one. The Chief Minister says, "Don't need to change our budget. She'll be apples. Steady as she goes". With regard to all of these factors, there can be no doubt that the Federal Government's budget will have a large and adverse impact on the ACT, and it is a negative impact, despite the Chief Minister's serene approach to this subject.
Now that it has granted self-government to the ACT, the Commonwealth's attitude appears to be that the ACT can look after itself. This is despite its undertakings prior to self-government and the requirement as well that, self-government or not, nationally determined standards must be maintained here. (Extension of time granted)
To make matters worse, the ACT Government in its budget statement has not addressed the real problem facing the ACT and has presented an initial budget which at best could be described as window-dressing. I do not intend to debate the ACT budget with the Chief Minister now; it is not the purpose of this debate. I will debate that at the right time and in the right place, and I am not going to traverse those subjects such as independent audit, public assets, superannuation and the Audit Act. They can be dealt with elsewhere. It is interesting to note that during the election campaign Labor questioned whether there was an $85m
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