Page 3234 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 September 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
In the brief time left available to me, I would like to say that I share the concerns of the non-government school sector in relation to this budget. I notice that Ms Szuty does not seem to worry about breaking the nexus of 50 per cent of Commonwealth funding levels. However, I remind members, and particularly Ms Szuty, that this will impact most on the higher categories, the category 12 Catholic Education Office schools, and I think that is a matter of grave concern to that organisation. The Association of Independent Schools are equally concerned about this matter. I do not blame them. I believe - it is a matter of concern to them and to me - that the Government has identified only the new lower funding of its non-government funding level for the 1993-94 year. I view that with considerable suspicion because I believe that this Labor Government is keeping its options open to further reduce non-government school funding in future years.
MR HUMPHRIES (5.03): Madam Speaker, it seems to me that last Tuesday the budget this Government launched took off at full thrust with soothing reassurances from the pilot that all would be well, but it crashed minutes after take-off. I have never seen an ACT budget plunge so precipitously from grace as has this budget.
Mr Kaine: Reminiscent of Mr Dawkins.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes. I said "ACT budget". If I had said "budgets", I would have had to qualify it by mentioning the Federal budget presented last month. Certainly this is the worst result for any ACT budget I have ever seen. Madam Speaker, never has an ACT budget faced such a bad reception. Never has it been such a clanger. The worst thing of all, though, is this: There is so much pain delivered in this budget in all sorts of areas; we have so little gain.
I have no difficulty in understanding the circumstances under which this Government has framed its budget. Those circumstances have been extremely hard. We all have to acknowledge that the Commonwealth has been extremely uncompromising, has been very harsh on the ACT. There was no mention of that fact by this Government at the Federal election a few months ago. Nonetheless, we all acknowledge that it has been very harsh on the ACT. I think that the taxpayers and the citizens of the ACT were quite prepared for strong measures to come forward in this budget. Such measures were expected. We would have worn a harsh budget if long-term gain had been the goal, but it was not. I quote from Ian Davis, writing in the Canberra Times of yesterday:
The real task in preparing yesterday's Budget was whether the ACT government could adjust the territory's finances to cope with a major and permanent fall in Commonwealth funding.
It was as big a challenge as any that the ACT has faced since self-government.
... ... ...
By any reasonable measure it failed the test.
... ... ...
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .