Page 2174 - Week 07 - Thursday, 6 June 1991
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Australia. And, of course, we have given considerable emphasis to regional economic development and micro-economic reform of the public sector.
At the moment, I am also Attorney-General - a post formerly held by Bernard Collaery. In mentioning the achievements of this Government, I have no difficulty whatsoever in crediting Mr Collaery with a whole range of social justice achievements which will make our city a better place in which to live. Whatever Mr Collaery's faults, he cannot be accused of lacking social conscience. The Alliance, which included the Residents Rally, has, I believe, some major achievements on the record. Mr Speaker, I table a list of those achievements of this Government over the preceding 18 months - a very impressive list. I table the following paper:
Alliance Government - Major achievements - December 1989 to June 1991.
But this debate must go beyond mere cataloguing of achievements. What we are debating, in the end, is the ability of government to provide a responsible and stable administration for the people of Canberra. Against all the odds, my Government has, I believe, provided the requisite responsibility and stability. What the honourable members of this Assembly must ask themselves is this: Which political grouping will provide stability and continuity up to the next election? Is it my Government, or is there an alternative? What is the possible alternative? What do Ms Follett and her Labor Opposition propose in order to lead us out of our straitened circumstances?
What worries me most is that, even in terms of broad policy initiatives, there is nothing - I repeat, nothing - that is concrete in anything put forward by Ms Follett and her colleagues. I suspect that they do not stipulate exactly what their policies are for the simple reason that they do not want the community to know. What we are being offered by Labor, instead, is a confidence trick - because the Follett theory of economics is one that will go down alongside the works of the great politico-economic philosophers like Adam Smith, J.S. Mill and John Maynard Keynes. The Follett theory embraces what has become widely known as the nip and tuck approach. The nip and tuck approach has all the essential characteristics of the economic confidence trick. For instance, it sounds harmless, even homey; it defies close scrutiny; and it seems painless - unless, that is, you get pricked in the finger while nipping and tucking. But the most important characteristic of it all is that it is utterly meaningless.
Here is how the Follett nip and tuck approach works. Take this coming year's net $40m cut in Commonwealth payments to the ACT. Say we have to find savings of $40m out of the 1991-92 budget. It is simple. Using the Follett nip and tuck approach, you merely nip $20m off here and you tuck $20m away there. Alternatively, you nip $30m off here and
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