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Mr Moore: What about business and marketing, Kate? You cannot say that education it is the only area that maintains funding, you know. What about business and marketing?
MRS CARNELL: It is the only area that maintains funding over three years. Have a look at the budget. What we have here from the Assembly is a very mixed message. As Mr Humphries just said, it appears that what we were supposed to do, according to Ms Follett, is not put up any taxes; not borrow any money, which we would have loved not to have done; not reduce any programs; not have any voluntary redundancies; not look at any changes in the public service whatsoever. What you would be talking about under those circumstances is just more of the same. The fact is that more of the same is not an option. It is not an option for the ACT, and it certainly is not an option for this Government.
We will not accept the situation where, over the last three years, waiting lists have more than doubled. We will not accept a situation where there are no extra patients treated for an extra $20m. We will be spending more money on things like extra patients and more operations in our health system. We will be spending $20m more on education over the next three years. We will be spending more money on marketing this city and getting business moving again. We will be spending money in areas where it should be spent, but we also will be becoming much more efficient in our government arena. We will be producing services at a much better cost. We will be looking at every service we provide to determine whether taxpayers are getting the best value for their dollar. We will be ensuring that they do. We will not end up with the situation that Ms Follett finished with.
I quote very briefly from the capital works program in the 1994-95 budget. Ms Follett took a lot of pleasure, it seemed, in suggesting that there were a few things in our budget that she thought were not in line with our election commitments. Here we have Ms Follett's own capital works program. It says, “New capital works to be undertaken in 1994-95 include: Nicholls Primary and Preschool”. Wrong. “Upgrading of science and technology areas in Canberra schools” - that still seems to be on the capital works program. “Tuggeranong Child Care Centre” - that did not happen. “Nicholls Child Care Centre” - no, we did not get to that. “Cultural and Heritage Centre in Civic - - -
Mr Berry: What about election promises?
MRS CARNELL: These are yours. “Cultural and Heritage Centre in Civic, $7m” - that did not happen. The Playhouse theatre upgrade did not happen. What about the Tuggeranong enclosed oval? Have we one of those? On it goes. That is last year's capital works program. You could not even achieve your capital works program.
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