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One other matter, which comes up in relation to the capital works budget, is the allocation of over $8m for the demolition of the buildings on Acton Peninsula and almost $3m for the refurbishment of alternative accommodation. In the course of our discussion it was made clear that no survey of possible alternative uses for those Acton buildings was carried out by the Government before making the decision. What an outrageous position! This is a decision which has soaked up most of the special revenue assistance, which was given to us by the Commonwealth, into something that has not even been properly thought through. It is off-the-cuff decision-making, without consultation with the people who are really concerned about it. I think that this is an extremely important recommendation.

The Government does not see it that way. Mrs Carnell leaps to her feet and says, “I agree with everybody”. We see her spring up like a jack-in-the-box, saying, “I agree with everybody”.

Mr De Domenico: Except you.

MR BERRY: No; I am everybody. I must be included amongst the “everybody”. “I agree; I agree; I agree”, says Mrs Carnell, to try to get the foxes off her tail. You cannot do that if you keep running a crook government. The sorts of decisions that have been made thus far show that there is a poor process of decision-making within the Government. This $8m investment of Territory funds is going to hit ACT residents hard. There is no real proof that it ought to have been spent by this Territory.

In fact, there are a lot of arguments that, if there was going to be any expenditure of this sort on land that the Commonwealth wants, they ought to spend it themselves. This is a waste of the money. The $15m of special revenue assistance that could have gone to the provision of services here in the ACT has, of course, been handed over. Mrs Carnell threw away $5m of the expected return from the Commonwealth, as well as over $8m on the demolition; and the refurbishment of the school came to almost $3m. What we are saying is that absolutely no funds be allocated to the demolition of government buildings unless an appropriate survey of the possible alternative uses has been carried out and the survey results are provided for scrutiny by this committee. The Government might laugh at that, but so far Mr Humphries has a practice of treating the committee system with some contempt. Members of the committee are serious about these recommendations. If you keep laughing at the committee system you will do so at your own expense; so be warned.

The other issue which I think was important was a submission that was put to us by the MBA in relation to the timing of the budget. The MBA also expressed concerns about the level of funding. They said that the cut of 27 per cent next year, or 41 per cent from 1994-95, in their view, was too high. They pointed to the fact that, for every million dollars not spent, about 15 jobs go. This Government's position on employment has not been that bright thus far, especially when you have a look at the employment levels across the Territory. They are dead flat or declining since Mrs Carnell came to office. Have a look at the percentage figures.

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