Page 3175 - Week 15 - Thursday, 14 December 1989
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to the issues facing the ACT. Through their actions, the strategy upon which the budget was developed is being destroyed. It is being undermined on a daily basis.
My approach in developing the budget was to include a mixture of increased revenue and some expenditure reductions through efficiency gains. I took that approach with a view to spreading the burden of financial adjustment as equitably as possible across the various sectors of the ACT community. But that basis, the basis for that budget, is being undermined. The Government must understand that although they have passed the Appropriation Bill without a murmur and we have the money cleared for use by the Administration, some of that money has not yet been raised. You have to go on with the job. There are a number of budget related revenue initiatives that must be introduced into the Assembly in order to balance the level of expenditure in the Appropriation Bill.
I know you did not take much notice of the budget at the time it was passed. I am giving you the opportunity now to understand that the work involved in that budget has to go on. To put it simply, the money to implement the budget which was approved in this Assembly has not yet all been raised. We have got to keep working on it. On the revenue side of the equation, the budget is already in deficit to the tune of $2m following the actions of some members of this Assembly to defeat the Government's tax initiative, and a very good initiative it was, too. You will live to regret your decision on this. The tax initiative was to impose a business franchise on the adult video industry. So you are $2m behind at the start.
This is further compounded by the fact that my Government's proposal to introduce legislation to tighten up existing anti-avoidance provisions concerning stamp duty liability and to strengthen further the tax base which was due to be introduced into this Assembly last week will now be deferred for several months; that is, if they intend to go ahead and introduce it at all, given the views of the Liberal coalition Government. A similar situation exists with my Government's intentions to introduce new ambulance financing arrangements. The delay in introducing legislation to replace the present subscription scheme will again have an impact on the budget and will result in the loss of the levy proposed for health funds.
So, by seeking this long delay in the business of this Assembly, you are incurring quite an impact upon the budget which you passed with very little of a murmur. I await, with something approaching trepidation, to see what alternatives Mr Kaine's coalition might spring upon the ACT community. You might remember that the budget which I proposed and which you passed had been the subject of a lengthy consultation process. The community knew what was in it, knew what to expect, knew where revenue was to be raised, knew where expenditure was to be reduced. The impact of this three-month delay means that that budget is almost impossible to deliver. What is your alternative?
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