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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 9 Hansard (23 November) . . Page.. 2433 ..

Mr Berry: You mean you cannot read?

MR DE DOMENICO: What you cannot read is real figures, real things. You are simplistic in your attitude; you are simplistic in your reading habits as well, I should imagine.

Mr Berry: You reckon the Canberra Times is simplistic too, do you?

MR DE DOMENICO: Yes, I do sometimes, Mr Berry; I really do. We are not here to support the Canberra Times; we are here to talk about the facts. The facts are, Mr Berry, whether you like them or where you do not, that since March this year there have been 6,700 new jobs in the ACT. We compare that to the previous 12 months under Labor, when there were 700 new jobs.

Mr Hird: What was that figure again?

MR DE DOMENICO: There have been 6,700 since March this year, by comparison with 700 the year before that, under Labor. So whatever we are doing, Mr Wood, it seems to be working, we think. We think it seems to be working, and so does the community. Let me also say that, coupled with that, we have the highest participation rate ever in terms of jobs in the ACT - 74.3 per cent - and 6.2 per cent unemployment, the lowest unemployment figure since 1991. All this has happened, coincidentally, after nine months of the Carnell Liberal Government. Why does it happen? Because whatever we are doing we are doing right, and we are doing it sensibly.

Ms Tucker and Mr Wood also talked about the employment programs. For their edification, we are spending the same amount of money on employment programs as was catered for in the forward estimates by that lot over there. So let us get away from this nonsense about cutbacks. If you wanted to spend more, why did you not put it into your forward estimates? You were not going to spend more. Let us cut out all that rubbish you talk about cutbacks. All of a sudden, unemployment becomes the sole responsibility of an ACT government.

Mr Berry: It ended with the Carnell Government. It stopped.

MR DE DOMENICO: We have an answer for that too. What else are we doing in terms of employment programs and creating real jobs - not just providing training with a wish list of jobs somewhere in the future? What else are we doing to create real jobs? As you should know, but I will tell you if you do not know, from 1 January 1996, we will increase the threshold for payroll tax to $600,000. From 1 January 1997, we have made a commitment, and we will do it, to increase it to $800,000. What is that going to do? It is going to inject $13.5m back into the private sector, giving them an opportunity to create more jobs.

Mr Berry: How many extra jobs?

MR DE DOMENICO: Once again, you sat on your hands for four years. You would not have a clue as to how to create a new job. You could not run a chook raffle in a pub.

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