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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (26 September) . . Page.. 3475 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

The same theme applies to the pipedream Jobs for Canberra. It is once again gilding the lily. It is once again presenting something as though it were true when it is not. I will reiterate a couple of the issues that Mr Whitecross has dealt with and add a few myself. Capital works, Mr Speaker, are said to provide 1,500 jobs. These projects were cut when $14m was taken out earlier this year to prop up the health funds. That was done in this Assembly. I understand there is to be some additional money on top of that, and that is something we will pursue in the Estimates Committee. Of course, when we do the comparison, we do not look at the budget from last year when we talk about a 25 per cent increase in capital works. We do not talk about what was budgeted for last year compared to what is budgeted for this year. Oh no! Once again, the Government is gilding the lily. We look back at what the outcome was after you have taken out the $14m or $20m. You compare the outcome of last year's budget with what is budgeted this year. Who knows what the outcome for this year is going to be? It may well be that this is just a pretence.

Mr Speaker, just as I drew attention to the fact that the Chief Minister was not here and how appalling I found that, I draw attention to the fact that she has now returned. I welcome her back.

Mrs Carnell: There are some things that you have to do. It is just like that.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, the interjection is, "There are some things you have to do". Mr Speaker, I have to say that I sat through the budget speech, but never mind.

The next issue is the promise of the creation of almost 270 jobs in the public sector. Mr Speaker, I am going to demonstrate how this is a half-truth. When one wonders about the 2,000, what conclusions can you also draw about the supposed 2,700 jobs that this Government is creating and see whether that is half true or whether it is just this same process of gilding the lily? There are to be 10 contract jobs in the sports enhancement program. However, these positions are in existing agency establishments and are for one year. They are one-year jobs, Mr Speaker. There are to be 34 permanent trainee positions for one year. They are permanent jobs, yes, Mr Speaker; they are full-time jobs, yes, I understand, but they are one-year jobs. They are not creating new positions. They are simply one-off one-year jobs. There are 12 apprenticeships and 50 temporary traineeships for up to one year. The 12 apprenticeships I accept, and I congratulate the Government.

I do not want to be misconstrued on this, Mr Speaker. Jobs are incredibly important and half the number of jobs that they have claimed they have created are fantastic, and I congratulate them for those. I think the one-year jobs that they have created are terrific and they deserve to be congratulated for them; but they present this as though they are creating 270 new jobs. That is why the Government ought to be condemned, and I will get to that in a short while. There are to be 50 temporary traineeships for up to one year - not for a year, Mr Speaker, but up to one year. So, of those 50 temporary traineeships, we have no idea how many actual jobs there will be. If you were to talk

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