Page 1820 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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Let us have a look at the figures that appear in the Supply Bill and compare them with last year's Supply Bill. If you run down the figures, most of them match up okay. Environment and conservation last year was $15.4m; in the Supply Bill this year it is $15.2m - a minor downward adjustment. It sounds all right. Mr Wood sounds like he is doing his job right. He has reduced his supply period expenditure marginally. Housing and community services is Mr Connolly's area. Last year it was $45.5m; this year it is $45.4m. It looks good, does it not? But then you get to public works and services. What is happening with public works and services? Last year the Supply Bill figure was $101m; this year it is only $75m. Something is going sadly wrong, is it not? Our public works and services expenditure in the five months period is going to drop by $26m - by one-quarter.
Mr Connolly: I cannot get approval to build that courthouse.
MR KAINE: We will come to your capital works program in a minute, Mr Connolly. You cannot blame the courthouse for everything. When you get down to the hospital budget - Mr Berry should listen carefully - last year the Supply Bill estimate was $105m; this year it is $123m. So Mr Berry is going to spend $18m more in the first five months of this year, by the Government's reckoning, than he did last year.
Now let us look at his capital budget, because that $123m expenditure includes only $800,000 - thousand, not million - of capital expenditure. This is in our health system. Lord knows what is happening with the hospital construction program. For five months they are not going to spend any money on it, presumably; yet his budget for the five months has gone up by $18m. That $18m represents a nearly 17 per cent increase in his supply money compared to last year. He is not spending it on capital, so now we know that his health budget is really blowing out. If you took last year's supply period and added to it a reasonable percentage of the $10m blow-out that he has already presented this year - added a fair slice of the $10m blow-out that he has already acknowledged this year - it still does not get you within a bull's roar of $123m for the first five months. In other words, his health budget has blown out completely.
Otherwise, why does he not explain why he wants $123m for the first five months? He has not given us one piece of information about why he needs it, and we are expected to take it at face value. I will not attack only Mr Berry for his poor management - - -
Mr Lamont: Well, you failed there.
MR KAINE: I have not done too badly. Can you explain the $18m, because it is not in these papers? Of course, $18m is nothing to you, Mr Lamont. Just give ACTION another $18m; no problem. Your old TWU mates love you for it. Let us have a look at Mr Wood.
Mr Wood: You explain what a Supply Bill is, Mr Kaine. How about going back to taws?
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