Page 2551 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 1994
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So we asked the question. We were not satisfied with the responses given to questions that we asked. Therefore, we expressed concerns and we made certain recommendations to the Government. I think that is a very fair and equitable process.
Let us look at ACTION buses. Mrs Carnell talked about ACTION buses. When you are told by senior bureaucrats that the ACTION buses are expecting a downturn in patronage over the next year, of course members of the Estimates Committee are concerned. We are spending $1m a week subsidising this ACTION bus system, and the very people that are running the bus service admitted to the Estimates Committee that, whilst the population of Canberra grows, there are fewer and fewer people projected to use ACTION buses. So of course the Estimates Committee was concerned and asked certain questions. Once again, that was a true reflection of exactly what happened in the Estimates Committee.
Mr Moore mentioned motor vehicle testing. Madam Speaker, I can recall the Liberal Party prior to the last election campaigning very strongly, based on figures and statistics it had got. At that stage, at the end of 1991, we were called all things under the sun - economic rationalists and all sorts of things. Now we have a situation where a Labor government is suggesting that they have seen the same evidence themselves and know that they need to do something about it. We all agree with them; they need to do something about it very quickly because, as Mr Moore quite rightly said, there is a predicted $3m saving. That just happens to be another VITAB payment. When we acknowledge that there are areas where we can save our ratepayers some money - and, by heavens, they need something back in their pockets, because everything has been coming out of them in recent times - of course we should ask questions and we should expect an honest and true reflection. Once again, this report is a true and honest reflection of what happened.
The sixth area that I would like to talk about is the wheeled garbage bins. Once again, it was a situation involving a union. The Estimates Committee, quite rightly, questioned various government public servants, saying, "Did certain things happen?" and, once again, we were not satisfied with the answer that was given to us. In fact, we are making a very strong recommendation that nobody in this Territory, whether they come from the union movement or whether they come from the business community, ought to be placing undue pressure on governments to do anything. That is what we would like the Auditor-General to look at.
Madam Speaker, in summary, in just those six areas that I was particularly concerned with, I thought the report of the Estimates Committee reflected exactly what happened during the hearings. If people stand up in this place and suggest that the process is flawed, I suggest that those people are criticising the process because they do not like what they see. That is fine. You have that option if you do not like what you see. But what we are saying is that they do not like what they see because what they see is what this Assembly believes commonsense should be all about, and that is this Estimates Committee report.
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