Page 1558 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 May 1990
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in my own good time".
On this occasion, I can understand Mr Kaine's reticence on the issue, because the tensions between the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance must be enormous and causing him some pain, I imagine. Members whose memories go past last December might remember Mr Duby criticising me roundly for not using all of the allowed borrowing limits. He said, "It would be far better to borrow. The impact on future budgets of servicing this sum is negligible". That is what Mr Duby said on the last budget.
So I have assumed, probably without any justification whatsoever, that Mr Duby might stick to those words. He has not stuck to anything else, but there is always a first time. If he does stick to his guns on that issue, it puts him entirely at odds with the Treasurer, whose aversion to borrowing we all know about; it amounts to an obsession.
Given the closed nature of this Government, my guess is that we will have to wait until the end of this financial year to see who wins this battle. Will Mr Duby stick to his guns? Will he maintain his rage from last year? If he does and if we see a $32.5m borrowing level, we can count that as a win for Mr Duby. On the other hand, if we see $24m as the borrowing level, then obviously Mr Kaine's view has held sway, which is the outcome that I would expect. Either way, I think that under this Government it is the people of Canberra who lose and who will again be kept in the dark on this matter, as we have been.
As I said, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, we do not oppose this Audit (Amendment) Bill. It is a fairly mechanical matter and is a provision that needs to be put through the Assembly to allow the ACT Government's semi-government borrowing program to proceed.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (4.29): We have just heard another typical speech from the Leader of the Opposition. Strangely enough, this is a Bill which she supports, but she still manages to use it to have a good old bitch about everything around the place.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Audit Act amendment is a requirement arising from the ACT Government's current and future years' semi-government borrowing programs. The Territory will need to have inscribed stock regulations put in place to enable the Treasurer to control inscribed stock issued on behalf of the ACT Government.
Debate interrupted.
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