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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2643 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

With regard to construction projects, the budget is a mixed bag for Canberra. It includes expenditure of $105m this year on the Russell Offices project and the Australian Geological Survey Organisation headquarters; refurbishment of the War Memorial, Old Parliament House and the Administrative Building in Parkes, with a total value of more than $70m; and the National Gallery extension, which is $1.8m this year and a total of $7m.

Mr Berry: What about the National Museum? Tell us about that.

MRS CARNELL: That is just what I am going to tell you about. All you have to do is actually listen.

On the downside, a number of projects, totalling approximately $27m, have been cancelled, including the redevelopment of the National Film and Sound Archive at $11.6m. I note, however, that the cancellation of buildings for the Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories and the Australian Federal Police in Barton will remove concerns shared by many members over the shifting of large numbers of jobs from Civic to Barton. The National Museum of Australia receives $1.5m for a siting study, which is well short of the commitment to a construction timetable that we were looking for. See, Mr Berry; if you had waited, you would have got to that bit.

On a positive note, the Commonwealth Government has indicated in the budget's wake that it is considering our proposal for the upgrade of Canberra Airport to international status in order to take overflow from Sydney Airport and to become a freight hub for the region. I am hopeful that they will provide funding of $1m for a full environmental impact study for this project. We will also be looking for a favourable response from the Federal Government to the high-speed rail link between Canberra and Sydney when the current evaluation by a joint ACT, New South Wales and Federal Government committee is complete.

There are other positive measures, Mr Speaker. Canberra families will benefit from the family tax package, and there are significant assistance measures for small business. Incentives for private health insurance should help ease some of the pressure on our public health system; that is, if they encourage more Canberrans to take out and use private health insurance. We certainly hope that they do, Mr Speaker. An $80m expansion of vocational training programs in high schools will include development of vocational programs in ACT colleges. There are opportunities for the ACT Government and the private sector to take advantage of outsourcing opportunities arising from the Commonwealth proposal to sell off a number of functions. Canberra's growing information technology industry should be able to access a range of new and continuing IT acquisitions by Federal departments, totalling approximately $71m.

Indeed, Mr Speaker, one of the more positive aspects of the budget was that foreshadowed cuts of up to $350m in Federal IT purchasing did not eventuate. That is good news for Canberra's IT businesses. I believe that outsourcing also presents tremendous opportunities for Canberra's private sector and provides us with a powerful marketing tool to attract new business to the ACT. I will be holding discussions with the Prime Minister to ensure that ACT-based companies are given every opportunity to

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