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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 1989 ..

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (4.15): We have tried, but it is actually very hard to get figures from other Executives around Australia. As Mr Moore said, ministerial allowances and other things are not on the public record. The only place they are on the public record is here. One thing we can be confident of is that the Executive has a lower cost now than it had under the previous Government. In fact, when we came to government the Executive budget was blowing out to over $400,000. We have managed to pull that back and are now operating within budget. We have also moved to economy travel for the Executive. Unlike those opposite, we have moved to make sure that we limit the amount of money that is spent right across the board on the Executive. I think that all Executives around Australia should be putting their travel expenditure on the record. I think they all should be putting on the record even what they are paid. It is even a little hard to find out what they pay their staff, but it is all on the record here and I am proud of that.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Part 5 - Central Financing Unit

Proposed expenditure - Central Financing Unit, $22,310,000 (comprising payments on behalf of Territory, $22,310,000)

MR BERRY (4.16): I want to continue with some points that I was making in relation to the Estimates Committee report on the Appropriation Bill. One of the areas that were dealt with by the committee was the issue of redundancies. I heard Mrs Carnell earlier today rightly applauding the change in the employment figures in the Australian Capital Territory in the last couple of months. I have already issued statements welcoming those figures and expressing the hope that they in fact persist, but my attention was drawn to an article in this morning's Canberra Times. (Quorum formed) My attention was drawn to an article in this morning's Canberra Times by Mr Ian Davis which raised significant scepticism about the figures. I hope Mr Davis is not correct; but, if I were the Chief Minister, the figures would give me the jitters a bit because it does not look as though they are as solid as they ordinarily would be on receipt of the ABS figures. When you have a close look at the figures and some of the comments by some of the commentators which I will read into the Hansard, it is enough to make many of us nervous about these figures although hopeful that, though there are some sceptics, the situation continues to improve.

ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesperson, Mr Peters, described these figures as "an aberration" and "very surprising". They are just two comments. The large and sudden swings described in employment growth in industry are unlikely, according to the article. According to the headline, job figures are under fire. I trust it does not burn down. I think it will be a good thing if the employment figures continue; but you would have to say, on any assessment of the Government's performance, that they have made no real contribution to the increased employment in the Territory. Leave aside what John Howard has done to the Territory. Mrs Carnell's preferred Prime Minister has made an absolutely shameless attack on 7,000 jobs in the ACT. Why would anybody want to do that to a society? Look at all the energy that is being put into the 2,000 jobs that have not gone yet in Newcastle. Talk about a phoney! We have one in that Prime Minister when it comes to compassion.

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