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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 1510 ..

Mrs Carnell: You have to do the planning bit first.

MR WOOD: All right, let us look at that. I have yet to see any evidence that they have backed up their statements and that we have not got anything other than a con job. When I asked the Deputy Chief Minister last week about budget rearrangements and whether he was increasing this year's budget - perhaps it is a bit late for that - and next year's budget to allow for extra works, or the third year of this three-year budget cycle, to generate employment, I got a totally evasive answer. Then on Friday night I saw a report that the Deputy Chief Minister had addressed the MBA annual dinner and said, "Great news, folks, great news! We are going to fast-track upwards of 35 projects". Then he gave three examples of what a wonderful job he was doing. In terms of the Chief Minister's interjection, it would appear that this is their agreement to what I was saying last week.

But let us look at these projects. The three examples that were given were the Tuggeranong police station, the Gungahlin high school and Gungahlin Drive. They say, "We have advanced things on these, folks; we are going to bring these forward". Let us look at them one by one. The Tuggeranong police station, as reported, is now scheduled to be tendered for in August, with construction beginning in September and completion by 1998.

Mr Whitecross: That was before it was fast-tracked.

Mr Osborne: Just in time for the election.

MR WOOD: Exactly. The question has to be asked: When was Gungahlin high school planned to be opened anyway? I rather think 1998 was the date. The planning has been under way to do that. I refer to the report of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment, the committee that examined the public works program for the year 1996-97. It examined next year's program, what we are going to do next year. Lo and behold, Gungahlin high school, $17m, funding provided for the first stage next financial year, 1996-97, just when Minister De Domenico says that he is going to fast-track it. It is a fraud, a con job, and he won the headline he wanted. This is not going to be finished or started a moment sooner.

I had in mind that we would be changing the program and allocating more money so that there would be more work. That was the intention. I did not expect that I would get as an answer, "Well, here is one on the program. We will pull this out of the program and pretend that it is being fast-tracked". Pretence!

Mrs Carnell: No. Bring them forward.

MR WOOD: Bring them forward? That was the program timetable for it, Chief Minister.

Mr Humphries: So you say.

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