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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 1509 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General): Mr Speaker, I seek leave, under standing order 46, to make an explanation.

MR SPEAKER: Proceed.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, in the course of his remarks Mr Berry made reference to my being responsible for the first budget blow-out that the Assembly - - -

Mr Berry: First and worst, I said.

MR HUMPHRIES: You also said that Mrs Carnell's was the worst; so I am not sure who actually gets that prize. You said both. As usual, Mr Berry contradicts himself. In respect of the issue I have risen to redress - the question of having the first budget blow-out - my memory seemed to beckon that something different had happened; so I went and had a look in the files, Mr Speaker, and I found this headline dating from 16 November 1989 - "Government acts to shore up Berry". There is a very nice picture of Mr Berry.

Mr Stefaniak: With a moustache and everything.

MR HUMPHRIES: With a moustache, and a bit more hair, but it is still him. He cannot disguise himself. I know that he tried to disguise himself by taking things off, but it is still him. Mr Speaker, this article refers to a letter from the Interim Board of Directors of the Royal Canberra Hospital and Woden Valley Hospital indicating that at the rate that the health budget was going under Mr Berry there was a $2.5m overspend which "would result in a $10m deficit in operating expenses" by the end of the year. Mr Speaker, of course, that did not happen, and the reason it did not happen is that the Alliance Government - - -

Mr Berry: It was $17m.

MR HUMPHRIES: No, it was not; it was nothing. This was 1989-90. The Alliance Government took office and the budget came in on target. Mr Speaker, the record remains. I am one of only two Ministers in this Territory who have ever brought in a budget on target.

MR WOOD (11.28): There are two components to this. One is taking the $14m and providing it to the health budget, with a compensating deduction from the public works program of that amount of money, and it is that that I want to focus on, just briefly. I want particularly to criticise the Deputy Chief Minister for the con job that he is trying to pull on the ACT community. In this Assembly last week I urged the Government to advance the public works program so that we could get some work done.

Mrs Carnell: We agree.

MR WOOD: The Chief Minister interjects, "We agree". I wish they did. I have yet to see evidence that they have agreed. I have yet to see evidence - - -

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