Page 2029 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 8 September 1992
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Mrs Carnell raised the issue of basic bread-and-butter items. She was right. It is the responsibility of the Left of politics to deal with these sorts of issues because the right wing will not. All they are interested in is confrontation with workers and their representatives, selling off successful public enterprises or the profitable part of successful public enterprises to the private sector, and generally lowering the living standards of ordinary people in the interests of their richer mates.
Mr Kaine and others talked about various pieces of legislation in relation to the Bills list. There are lots of Bills mentioned there that are of an administrative nature. Many, of course, deliver important social change. But Mr Kaine ought not be confused by the name of a Bill. It is the guts of a Bill that means something to the people of the ACT. You can bet your life, Mr Kaine, that the guts of any Bill passed by a Labor government, or put before this house by a Labor government, will be of significance for the people of the Australian Capital Territory and will not detract from their living standards, as could be expected in the case of a Liberal-led government.
Our social agenda, Madam Speaker, is well known. It is published and it is well supported. It was well supported by the people of the ACT in the last election. Our platform is clear; it is not a secret document. Even Mr Kaine can have a copy when he requires one. That is our platform. An interesting exercise, I think, is to compare the Labor Government's social justice agenda with the social agenda of the Liberals, the much feared "frightpack". People out there in the community are frightened of this document and they are frightened of it because - - -
Mr Humphries: You certainly are.
MR BERRY: Indeed, on behalf of the community, I do fear for the community if Hewson were to be elected, because he is bad news for the whole of Australia. What has happened is that we have the big lie being peddled by the Liberals here in the ACT, and defended. The difficulty for anybody in responding to that sort of a document is: How do you respond to a lie? That is the nature of the "frightpack" package. It says that it will be better after Hewson, when clearly it will not. Under a Liberal government, either here or federally, the people of the ACT are in for grim times.
As I have said in the past, Labor focuses on the social needs, but the Liberals are prepared to rip away the infrastructure. That has been their style in the past. They will drive wages and living conditions down. The much loved goods and services tax, the one that is supported by the Liberals opposite, will strike at every aspect of life here in the Territory.
Mr Kaine: That is the one that gets rid of seven other taxes, like payroll tax, petrol franchise tax and the like.
MR BERRY: I am glad that Mr Kaine raises the seven taxes. I just happen to have a list of the seven taxes here. First, the Opposition says that it is going to abolish the coal export tax. The coal export tax has already been abolished by the Labor Government, I should remind you. The second tax they want to abolish is the training guarantee levy. It is not paid by the majority of Australians. The levy is designed to improve the skills level of Australian workers to make Australia more competitive. The Liberals do not want to do that. They are more comfortable with people in chains.
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