Page 2471 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 1993
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Instead of these diversions, the Commonwealth budget does give a strong emphasis to national employment and economic and social justice issues, and the ACT will be participating with the Commonwealth in a wide range of these initiatives. Some of the initiatives included in the budget - and other speakers will take them up in greater detail - are funding for employment liaison officers in schools; the continuation of the national industry extension service, which has been extremely successful in this Territory; and assistance for reducing waiting times for elective surgery. I would have expected something positive from Mrs Carnell on that, but it was not forthcoming. There will be a new dental health program to improve emergency services and expansion of the palliative care program. We know that Mrs Carnell does not care about hospices. She is doing everything she can to sink the current proposal. There will be an extension of the women's health program, an alternative birthing services program, and an extension also of health services for homeless youth. There will be additional work-related child-care places and an increase in national funding for the home and community care program.
Apart from these national initiatives in which the ACT will participate with the Commonwealth, the budget indicates a strong commitment to the ACT in terms of building and construction activity. I am very pleased indeed to see the Commonwealth's continued support for its election promise to proceed with the National Museum of Australia. The Commonwealth's budget commits $3m in 1993-94 to progress design work on this major national institution. This is a project which will have flow-on benefits to the ACT community and, of course, the local tourism industry. The ACT has continually indicated its support for the project and will be strongly supporting the Commonwealth's desire to see some private sector involvement there.
The commitment to the establishment of a national portrait gallery in the old Parliament House is also particularly pleasing. It is a project which makes use of an existing and very historic building; it is a project which adds to our status as a national capital, and it adds also to our tourism industry. It will involve expenditure of $4.9m over four years, with $865,000 being spent in 1993-94. This initiative will complement other facilities of national significance in the Parliamentary Triangle. It will reinforce the ACT's position as a significant and very attractive tourism destination.
The Commonwealth's announcement to commit $114m to the construction of accommodation for the Australian Geological Survey Organisation, I believe, provides a great deal of reassurance to our local construction industry. It also provides a new home for what used to be known as the BMR - the Bureau of Mineral Resources - a very proud Canberra institution, part of the local landscape. I am very pleased to see that they are getting a new home. There is a large range of other projects, including the National Defence College and an upgrade of Commonwealth assets in the Parliamentary Triangle, which in total will inject more than $10m of new works into the Territory. That is a significant boost to our local construction industry.
There are no surprises in the Commonwealth budget in terms of direct funding for the ACT in 1993-94. The $40m in additional special revenue assistance over and above the transitional allowances assessed by the Grants Commission which I negotiated at the Premiers Conference has been confirmed. I would like again to draw attention to Mrs Carnell's statements on this matter. In her press release today she fairly accurately says that the reduction in funding to the ACT is $74m compared with our previous year's funding from the Federal Government.
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