Page 1181 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 1991
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redevelopment project, I must point out that work on that project is proceeding both on target and on budget, as the Minister for Health constantly keeps asserting. Revision of the budget during the course of the year is the task of any responsible financial manager. It would be imprudent to ignore changing circumstances and new information in the ongoing management of the budget.
I note at this point that, unlike the Commonwealth, our annual budgetary cycle does not include an additional estimates process. In my view, such a process assumes that managers will make bids for additional funds during the course of any year. I believe that, if any manager has a justifiable need for supplementation, a specific bid should be made when the need arises. An additional estimates process attracts bids and bad bids can be carried along with good ones. The absence of such a process means that each bid must stand scrutiny independently, and there is no organisational expectation that supplementation will automatically follow, and tighter management and financial control results. What that means is that, when you have a genuine need for additional funds somewhere, you have to consider it as a special case. That is exactly what we are doing.
One of the results of actively managing this budget and being prepared to make adjustments where necessary is that I am in a position today to announce a number of beneficial initiatives which will assist the ACT economy in weathering the current economic storm. They are a demonstration of the budgetary resilience which this Government's strategies are fostering.
The effects of the national economy on business, particularly small business, and hence on employment opportunities have been of increasing concern to me and to my colleagues. Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding next year's Commonwealth grants to the ACT, I cannot support any measures with significant long-term expenditure impacts. However, there are shorter-term activities that we can commit ourselves to implementing.
There are four cases. Firstly, there are a number of construction projects which are to be accelerated. Actual construction will commence on projects such as completion of the upgrading of Limestone Avenue, a further stage of Long Gully Road, and realignment and upgrading of Boboyan Road and Oaks Estate Road. Design work will be accelerated on the Tuggeranong swimming complex, the new Griffin Centre, and the communication and breathing apparatus centre associated with the City Fire Station complex, along with a number of other smaller projects. This will, of course, assist employment generally, particularly local consultants and contractors, with direct labour representing about 70 per cent of the total cost of these projects. Earlier starts on actual construction will also help stabilise the building industry.
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