Page 1680 - Week 08 - Thursday, 28 September 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the one that has always looked after the underdog, the unprivileged people. The first thing we looked at was stamp duty relief for people who are first home buyers. We made it possible, on a $90,000 house, to get the full exemption from stamp duty of $1,765, and this proves that we have looked after young first home buyers. I do not see the Liberal Party's policies operating in that way.
So it really upsets me to hear that the Liberal Party thinks that this is their policy. It is not their policy. This has been Labor Party policy for years. I saw Mr Jensen hold up the Labor Party's policies. We are proud of our policies. They are not policies we got together when we decided to run a team. We have had policies for years. I have been a member of the Labor Party for 35 years. I have been going to conferences for the last 15 years. We have had policies that have been for the people of the community, not policies that we got together because we decided to run a team in an election and we thought we just might be able to get some people up.
At least the Liberal Party has had some policies. I may not always agree with them but at least it has had policies, and it is the Opposition. So I reject it when I hear Mr Jensen or the Liberal Party tell me that we did not have any policies.
MS MAHER (5.10): Mr Speaker, I rise today to speak on the first ACT budget and in particular I wish to comment on the effects this budget will have on one half of the citizens of the ACT - the women of Canberra. As my colleague Mr Duby has already pointed out, this budget does not address the real issues facing Canberra, the issues that are there for all to see.
Any close examination of the current economic circumstances facing the ACT shows that this city is facing difficult times. All sectors of the economy are currently depressed, and it is my opinion that the measures taken, or should I say not taken, by this budget are only going to make matters worse. The bottom line of this budget is that it simply does not respond to the current economic conditions facing the ACT but instead is contractionary and will undoubtedly lower economic activity across the board.
It is my belief that the net result of this budget will be increased unemployment. This Government and the Federal Government have made it abundantly clear that they do not intend to increase the public sector employment level and instead are relying on the private sector to tackle the employment problem. But given the lack of assistance this budget gives to the ACT economy, the private sector will be flat out holding onto their current staff, let alone taking on new employees.
And, of course, with any depressed economy, the first people to be laid off or dispensed with in a belt-tightening exercise are women. In its original form, as
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .