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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 790 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

It also says:

The cost model was not intended to be used as a budget management tool.

Anyway, it has been used and it has not worked, we are told. Mrs Carnell also said, "Why should I doubt it?". I have heard her doubt just about every other single thing that Labor did, and she has brought in accrual accounting to challenge a lot of the past practices. She has challenged a lot of what Labor said when they were in government; but in this case she says, "Why should I doubt it?". There is an inconsistency there that I find very worrying.

There is also a lack of responsibility being taken by her as a manager, and that is probably the most worrying thing for us. What we are hearing - it has come up in a few instances - is things like, "I have not imposed one ban". It is a nonsensical answer to serious concerns about industrial action which has upset the community. When we hear discussions about the costs of industrial action, we hear Mrs Carnell say, "I did not impose one ban". That is not an intelligent answer to that. We all have to take responsibility to - - -

Mrs Carnell: It is a true answer.

MS TUCKER: It is a simplistic answer. It is not acknowledging that there are two parties here who have to take responsibility. If you are just going to say that it was someone else's fault, that is not taking responsibility. When you fail, you say, "Oh, it was a faulty model. I am sorry, but that is not my fault". I would like to see how your Government responds to a community group to which you give money to do particular tasks and when their budget blows out they say, "We did not have the correct information, so it did not work out how we wanted". With the prospect of a lot of work being tendered out, the situation is different again. If the person who gets the tender, maybe quite cheaply, cannot deliver the services, who is going to suffer then? It will be the person at the receiving end of the services, and perhaps that company no longer will be successful in tendering. Once again, where is the accountability, and who is going to suffer in the end? I am afraid that the people of the ACT are going to suffer.

I do not have confidence in Mrs Carnell's ability to manage financially. I was thinking that at least in that area she had it together. I was hoping that, because she had it together in that area, we would then see attention given to the environmental and social concerns we keep talking about. We hear groans and moans from the Liberals because we keep talking about these things, but now I do not see that we can even have confidence that there is going to be the financial wherewithal to deal with these problems.

Mr De Domenico: No, because you reckon that you are the one who has invented them. That is why we groan.

MS TUCKER: Mr De Domenico does not think there are any problems. I am particularly happy to support this motion after that comment.

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