Page 2616 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 October 1992
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others have said, the economy in the ACT is doing the dead cat bounce. There is no doubt about that. We have seen unemployment figures remain around 7.5 per cent to 8.3 per cent over the past few months, and they are not getting any better, because this Government has done nothing at all about them.
Madam Speaker, perhaps it is easy for people to stand up and say that things are going bad. I am not saying that it is an easy job, Madam Speaker; but there are a lot of things that the Government can do. The most important thing that governments of all political persuasions can do in times of high unemployment is to make sure that they create the atmosphere where the private sector can flourish, and they can do that in a number of ways. Premier Lawrence, for example, in Western Australia, recognised the problem of payroll tax. What did she do recently in her budget? She reduced payroll tax in relation to small business. Why could not this Government have done that? What did Ms Follett do in her budget? I will tell you what she did. She did nothing. This Government has done nothing.
What about formally recognising registered partnerships within the ACT Payroll Tax Act, thus exempting payments to subcontractors? Mr Connolly stood up in this house not 10 minutes ago to say how important the housing industry is to the ACT, and so it is. So, let us make it easier for the housing industry, and other industries, to employ more people by reducing the cost of labour. What about abolishing the 3c per litre petrol tax as was promised?
Of course, they are hard things to do, because you have to find the money from somewhere. Someone will say, "Where will you get the money?". You can get the money by reducing expenditure. We have seen some of the rorts that go on in places like ACTEW from time to time when people are given illegal payments. With respect to Mr Connolly, he is trying to do the right thing by making sure that that sort of thing does not happen. What happens to Mr Connolly when he does that? He is censured by the left wing of the party, and Mr Berry walks out while the vote is being taken. He is kneecapped for doing the right thing. Shame on this Government, Madam Speaker! There has to be more of that sort of thing. There has to be a reduction in costs. There has to be a reduction in the cost of labour before anybody else can employ any more people. Madam Speaker, these and other measures the Liberal Party will carry out when it is in government. I know that some of these decisions are very hard to make, but it is those tough decisions that are going to fix the economy.
Madam Speaker, the Follett Labor Government has failed utterly and completely to introduce any meaningful reform process which will create real jobs. Instead, it remains, like a broken record, pumping out the same ideological claptrap which is out of step with reality and desperately aligned to union interests. Madam Speaker, it is a shame that our youth unemployment level is the highest in this country. We have 56 per cent youth unemployment. Our unemployment level this month has gone up from 7.9 per cent to 8.3 per cent. Ms Follett had a wonderful opportunity in this last budget, and the budget before, to do something about it. She has done nothing to reduce the cost of labour. As colleagues on this side of the house will realise, the only way that the private sector can employ more people is if the costs of labour are reduced.
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