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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 4606 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

Whilst many Canberrans are still doing it hard, economic indicators such as retail figures - - -

Mr Berry: That is why the retailers are having their post-Christmas sales before Christmas.

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Berry interjects. Whilst some Canberrans are doing it hard, economic indicators such as retail figures and building approvals are now far more positive than they were six months ago. That is something we can all feel good about, or we should feel good about. This side of the house feels pretty good about that. No-one would deny that Canberrans have experienced some pain over recent times, and we have said so - much of it at the hands of the Federal Government, and we have said so.

However, businesses are starting to tell us that they are confident about their future and are starting to employ more people. That is not hearsay. Businesses, if you talk to them, will tell you that. Just last month we saw the release of the Yellow Pages small business index, which showed that the majority of businesses in the ACT were confident about their future, compared to only 17 per cent who felt that way at the end of the June-August quarter. So in the June-August quarter, 17 per cent felt okay, but, according to the Yellow Pages index, there are now many more.

In the face of what appears to be good news, what appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, what do we hear from the Whitecross-led Opposition? Do we hear "Well done, Government" - we do not expect that - or at least "Things are starting to improve, but there is a long way to go."? No, we do not hear that at all. In today's Canberra Times, we read of Mr Berry saying:

... the ACT position could not be described as anything better than shaky given the Howard axe which hangs over our economy and the Carnell budget which provides no answers for the unemployed in the ACT.

As the Chief Minister just said, I thought the next paragraph would tell me what the alternative government would do, but it was blank. There was nothing there.

Mr Berry: Do not blame me. The Canberra Times wrote the article.

MR DE DOMENICO: Now Mr Berry blames the Canberra Times. It was the Canberra Times that reported what he said. Shame on you, Canberra Times; how dare you report what Mr Berry said! Shame on you! Mind you, it was a very small article because he did not say much, but still, shame on you for reporting what he said. Possibly the most irresponsible thing Mr Berry could say he said. That is not unusual for Mr Berry. If I were a local businessperson still and I were stupid enough to listen to anything that came out of Mr Berry's mouth - the big if, I grant you - maybe today I would think twice about employing a new staff member; maybe I would think twice about expanding my business, about signing that new contract.

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