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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3789 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, the budget was handed down by a Minister who had failed spectacularly to manage last year's budget. What we see in this year's health budget is last year's blow-out built in for future generations to pay and for future governments to sort out. In the budget papers we are told that the Minister estimated last year that she would spend $283m this year; but, of course, she predicts that she will spend $322m. That is a pretty big gap in the Chief Minister's estimate. It just shows a level of incompetence that we have never experienced in the past. Mr Speaker, she is selling the Territory's assets to pay for her failure to control the health budget. Future generations will have to pay for the incompetence of this Health Minister.

At the same time, we have seen the failure of the savings targets - all those glib promises of savings which were not delivered. That is another failure in the health portfolio. But here is a good one. Here is a beauty. The Estimates Committee spent a lot of time scrutinising the Government's position in relation to the sale and lease of assets, and they were misled. They were very clearly misled, because, the Saturday after this report came down, there was an announcement in the Canberra Times calling for expressions of interest for the Moore Street building in Civic. That was not mentioned in the Estimates Committee process. It was kept secret from the Estimates Committee because you intended to mislead them. Mr Moore, you are entitled to feel misled, as I was, because I sat through that process, and then all of a sudden we find an ad in the Canberra Times talking about the sale or lease of another government building which had not been raised in the Estimates Committee. That is misleading. There was no intention at all to tell the Estimates Committee exactly what was going on.

Mr Speaker, the Government boasted about a budget which would deliver over 2,700 jobs. We have heard that this was illusory. It was a con. Fifty-four per cent of young people, who got faith from that budget, were misled. In fact, 54 per cent of the young people out there who are unemployed were misled by that budget. So, too, would be anybody in this Assembly who believed it, because it was quite untrue.

Mr De Domenico: How do you know? Have you a crystal ball?

MR BERRY: Mr De Domenico says, "How do you know?". Just take, as one example, the 50 teacher jobs. You end up with the same number at the end of the year. Do not give me that nonsense.

Mr De Domenico: I will bet you that the 50 teachers who get jobs will be delighted, though. Go and talk to them.

MR BERRY: Do not give me that nonsense. This was a smoke and mirrors effort, which fools nobody. You misled us again. You misled us on the sale of assets. You misled us on jobs. Where else will you attempt this? How soon will the Independents wake up to you lot? Will they cop being misled time after time? Or is it just because you are Liberals and everybody expects you to do that? It is okay because they are Liberals; they always do that. Perhaps that is the situation, Mr Speaker.

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