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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 9 Hansard (23 November) . . Page.. 2340 ..

Mr De Domenico: That is not strong enough.

MRS CARNELL: You are quite right. The reality of this budget, and any budget, is that it is a balance between what you can do with the money you have and the priorities that have been put forward. It is a matter of priorities. We were elected, much as those opposite do not like it. We got 10 per cent more of the vote than they did. We were elected on the basis of our policies and we are putting them in place. We do not step back from that. That is the truth. We are putting our education policies, our education promises, in place in total. We believe that that is the basis upon which we were elected, and we will continue to take that approach.

We will also continue to take the responsibility for our actions, and I think that is the bottom line of the debate here today. The Executive, by the very nature of our system, must take responsibility for the budget and for the running of departments generally. We will continue to do that. It will be impossible to run this Assembly, to run this Government, at any time in the future if the Government can be directed by the Assembly in the way that Ms Follett seems to want to direct it with regard to bottom lines of budgets. At least the Greens have the guts to say that their view is that we should put taxes up substantially and then use that money for all the things they are talking about. The Labor Party says, "No, we do not want taxes to go up; we just want you to spend all this extra money in a whole lot of different areas". I would love to do that too, but I am not willing to borrow extra money in this budget. I am not willing to saddle our kids with the debt.

Ms Follett: These are the highest borrowings we have ever had. You hypocrite!

MRS CARNELL: Yes, it is the highest. We made that clear. We are not willing to borrow more money than the current unacceptably high level of borrowings, which will reduce over the next three years, because we are not willing to put more money on the ACT people's Bankcard.

MR SPEAKER: As members will be aware, there was a proposal to take photographs of the Assembly sitting at 12.30 pm today. However, I understand that there is a memorial service taking place at one o'clock and, because of the possibility that people may wish to do media interviews when the house rises at 12.30 pm, we have moved the taking of photographs forward by 10 minutes, so they will be taken at 12.20 pm. I would ask all members to be present in the chamber at 12.20 pm. There is no sound; they are just photographs.

MR WOOD (12.12): Mrs Carnell has vainly tried to tell us all that she has done what people want her to do. She tabled documents about the so-called community consultation, and I see some names here. I wonder whether she has done what Dr Wolff of the Association of Parents and Friends would want. Did Mr Jeremy Pyner of the Trades and Labour Council agree, as she claims, to all this? Or Mr Trevor Kobold of the P and C Council. Has she got Mr Trevor Kobold's approval, as she seems to imply?

Mrs Carnell: Since when was community consultation with everyone agreeing?

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