Page 1458 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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from this Government, and it wants to believe that in some way its own direction when in government was equally strong, equally forthright, equally purposeful, and that this direction that we now pursue is the wrong direction.
I think those that look carefully at what the Follett Government achieved when it was in power will realise that all its actions, all its directions, were shaped, above all, by the fact that it was a minority government and did not have the capacity to shape any real, firm, purposeful direction. This Government, Mr Speaker, does have that capacity, and it is proceeding and will proceed to shape and articulate that direction, both for the benefit of members opposite and for the members of the Territory generally. I want to answer, first of all, a few points raised by earlier speakers.
Mr Wood: Why do you not defend the statement?
MR HUMPHRIES: I will defend the statement, Mr Wood, I can assure you. I will defend it by pointing out some of the inaccuracies in what you and Mr Moore have said.
Mr Moore: Inaccuracies? Me?
MR HUMPHRIES: There were plenty of inaccuracies, Mr Moore. We had what I call here in my notes "Michaelnomics" or "NIMBYnomics" from Mr Moore, these peculiar ideas of how to make ends meet. Mr Moore is sensible enough, he is a rational enough person, to realise that there is a problem. We have got less money to get by with than we had in the past so we have got to do something about it. Mr Moore has racked his brain to think of some solution to the problem which is not our solution. Of course, that would not be acceptable; that is being in truck with the conservatives, according to him. He is trying to find some alternative way of getting round this problem. His solution is to slash the capital budget; let us not spend any money on capital works in the Territory. Mr Speaker, I am sure that Mr Moore could speak to members of Labor governments around the country to get this piece of advice; sensible members of other governments will tell him that it is a false economy not to spend money on capital works where they are needed, because to a significant extent - not entirely, of course - spending money on capital works is part of the process of providing services to the people of the Territory.
When you build a hospital you are spending money on capital works but you are also providing services to people out of that hospital. When you build new schools in the southern part of the Tuggeranong Valley you are providing services to the people out of those schools. You cannot slash the capital budget terribly far before you slash services, and this is what Mr Moore needs to realise. I would be very willing to listen to what he has to say about where we might make cuts in the capital budget but, ultimately, he has to get the process to the stage of cutting services, and I do not believe that is an acceptable solution to him.
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