Page 2410 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 6 August 1991
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announced that we can chip $2.5m or $3m out of there. Who cares about the people out there? As long as they have somewhere to jump in and get wet and as long as it is under cover, that will do. It will save $3m there. We all know that money can be well spent at the beginning, as in all things in life. That ongoing project would attract trade and custom. There would therefore be an ongoing concern.
In 61 days we have had this document produced, plus the other insidious announcements that have been made. Why does this Government not have the guts to stand up and say quite categorically that they are not going to go ahead with the Civic Square redevelopment? Why do they have to sneak into paragraph 3, on page 12, the fact that they are going to spend a certain amount of money on the refurbishment of the North Building in Civic Square? Why do you not simply say, "We have looked at the figures, but they do not add up. We cannot get someone to take it on"?
Mr Berry: Ask a question tomorrow. Just ask a question.
MR DUBY: This has been out for three weeks, and this question has been asked in the media, and by me publicly in the past. Why do you not simply have the guts? Are you afraid? Coupled with the insidious attack that we have seen on the capital works program that was originally in place under, as I said, the prudent management of the previous Government, they have decided to slash that. They have decided to fiddle the books. They have decided to use a bit of Follettnomics and transfer capital funding into recurrent expenditure. Anybody who can read between the lines can see that that is exactly what this does - it takes money out of capital works and puts it into recurrent expenditure; it is as simple as that. You are taking out of the future of the Territory to pay for your current crazy ideas. Anybody who has the ear of the Chief Minister and who wants a particular project done, or undone for that matter, can have it achieved.
I am quite amazed about the Ainslie tip. Another example is the $600,000 grant to hockey. I did not know that members of our Cabinet played hockey. Do they? I can only assume that it must be the case, because in the ACT we already had one of the best hockey facilities in the country. It is a grant, not a loan. I think this is remarkable, given the fact that this day it has been announced by Mr Berry that a badly needed hospice will not be proceeded with. That is a disgusting state of affairs. To tell you the truth, Mr Speaker, I am surprised that somewhere in here there is not an announcement that they are going to reconstruct the Casuarina Weir. With their phobia for reversing all possible attempts at sound financial management and sound environmental practices by the former Government, it is surprising that they have not tried to reverse that as well.
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