Page 226 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 February 1990
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There will be no sacking of employees in the implementation of our policies and we will also seek to avoid disruption of the public sector.
Although I have made this intention clear in the past, there continues to be a negative destabilising approach adopted by some elements of the Opposition which is perpetuated even now by the Leader of the Opposition. Rather than entering into a constructive debate to enhance the economic growth and social well-being of the ACT community, the Labor Party talks about disastrous impacts and is unwilling to face up to the responsibilities of the Assembly in addressing our financial and economic situation. I use the words "responsibilities of the Assembly" advisedly. This is a major problem and it should be being dealt with on a bipartisan or multipartisan approach by this Assembly, not by the Government with the Labor Party sitting there with a dog in the manger attitude refusing to cooperate and participate.
All of this is in strange contrast with Labor's own budget statement about our predicament. Labor members know the facts, so let us pull together towards solutions, not seek to score petty points. We need to recognise that the essential role of government is to provide community services without imposing undue financial burden on the community. One of the central objectives of the Government is to recognise the key role to be played by the private sector in the local economy. We know that and we appreciate it obviously much more than the public-oriented Opposition does.
We must achieve growth in the private sector as it is the predominant source of job opportunities for Canberrans. Furthermore, it is only through growth in the private sector that the revenue base of the ACT can be reasonably expanded without undue pressure being placed on households. A major contribution by government to achieving this economic growth must be to provide a stable economic and financial climate. For seven months the Labor Government was absolutely destitute in terms of ideas for dealing with our fundamental problem. They did nothing but bury their heads in the sand hoping it would go away. It will not go away, and your heads are still in the sand. The duck you spoke of - and the Leader of the Opposition is not here to hear this - the duck she spoke of the other day looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, but it emerges as an ostrich - Labor's king sized duck with its head still in the sand.
The stability provided by my majority Alliance Government will establish the environment of certainty and confidence needed for investment in Canberra's future. The impacts on the people of Canberra will not - as asserted by the Leader of the Opposition - be disastrous, as the wording of the MPI suggests. They will be most beneficial as they will be reflected in an orderly planned transition from a position
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