Page 1506 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 18 May 1993
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have made representations about the lack of opportunity even to quote for quite a few businesses. I would suggest to the Chief Minister that as long as 18 months ago we were told that this agency would be set up for certain products, and still nothing has happened. Is this another case of words, words, words, but no action?
I put it to the Chief Minister that one of the best ways to attract business to this town would be to reduce the oncost that happens in business, especially in the form of payroll tax. Payroll tax, after all, is a State tax; it is one that we could reduce or abolish. There are other oncosts that are much higher in this town than, for instance, in neighbouring New South Wales. In my own industry workers compensation is at least 6 per cent higher than the equivalent in New South Wales. The Chief Minister always talks about setting up a business advisory centre. May I remind the Chief Minister that when the Business Services Centre was opened in Kingston the Government, I must admit, very generously made premises available at no charge, but the organisation did not have enough money left to buy furniture. Private enterprise had to come to the party.
The Chief Minister talks on page 6 about 1,500 direct jobs as a result of the York Park development. It is my understanding from newspaper articles that less than 600 of those 1,500 are in fact jobs in the ACT. The others are interstate. My question to the Chief Minister is: What are the realities of the situation? Where is the actual work that has been put in? I put it to the Chief Minister that the best way to attract business is to create an economic climate in which business can operate profitably, and one of the first things would be to reduce the oncost, as I have said before. I have not had a chance to analyse her paper properly; but, as I said, EPACT, in May 1992, made 18 recommendations. I am not aware of any one of those 18 having been put in place. Today we get a paper with 28 recommendations, and I just wonder how many of those will be put into place.
MR HUMPHRIES (3.33): I must say, Mr Deputy Speaker, that the Liberal Party does take some credit for some of the urgency which has suddenly infused the Government's activity in the last day or so on the question of business. We have seen this Government under pressure from the Liberal Party for some time on this issue. It will remain under pressure until it starts to show preparedness to grapple with the real issues in this debate, which is incumbent on a government facing the problems that this Government faces. I am referring particularly to the sort of economic pressure which comes on this Government through changes in Commonwealth Government funding arrangements for the ACT.
It was only last week that Mr Westende asked the Chief Minister what she was doing to attract business to the ACT. Her answer at that time was that she consulted regularly with members of the ACT business community. I think it is fair to ask just what, beyond window-dressing, beyond tokenist attempts at making the ACT a better place for business to work in, this Government has done in the last year or two, particularly in the last two years since it returned to office before the 1992 ACT election. To hear the Chief Minister say the other day that she consulted regularly with peak business groups in the ACT came as a great surprise, I think, to many peak business groups in the ACT. It was enough to make them choke on their corporate cornflakes, I suggest, to learn that they are in
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