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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 2 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 446 ..

MR QUINLAN

The fundamental role of government is not confined solely to economic management of a balance sheet. Rather, government must also ensure full participation of all members of the community to achieve equitable outcomes.

We commend that sentiment to you. We were asked what value do we place on a AAA rating? To some extent our AAA rating has become an end in itself. I wrote this before the full detail of the arbitrage process was revealed. Unless you are setting up as a merchant banker and borrowing specifically to lend at a shade of a few points, you have a circular process. We keep a AAA rating by not borrowing. I rather think that the Monty Python team could make a sketch out of that in itself. "We have got our AAA rating, boss. How did we get that? We did not borrow anything".

Mr Stanhope: It is like a hospital without patients. Keep the costs down.

MR QUINLAN: Yes. In relation to arbitrage, quite obviously it is a sensible thing to optimise the use of your short-term cash surpluses and even occasionally to go over the line if there are premium returns to be made in a volatile short-term money market. But I do recommend extreme care. I trust that we are not exposed to inordinate risks. I noticed today that the Chief Minister tabled some regulations and I will be interested to get a copy of those at a later date. I do not have a totally negative attitude towards that.

I will concede in relation to our AAA rating that quite obviously it is an indication of financial strength. The better the credit rating, the greater the financial strength, and our financial strength is important to us. Rather than concentrating on our AAA rating, why do we not concentrate on the financial strength of the ACT, a financial strength that is based on our net assets? Let us not flog them off and reduce our financial strength year by year.

In relation to the operating loss: Yes, we do believe that the Government should strive to eliminate the operating loss. Timing? Immediate. Now is good. Certainly, 2001 would appear to be a most desirable target from our perspective. However, the ALP does view the economy as serving the community and not the reverse. The community does not exist to serve the economy. Budget priorities must take as paramount the welfare of the people, particularly those with a limited capacity to control their own circumstances. We expect a balanced approach in bringing in a balanced budget.

I will now commit a little heresy, or border on it. At this point I wish to refer to the Government's 1998-99 budget and forward estimates. I have chosen to address some numbers in the general government sector because I believe that that is what the Government should be working to control, and allow the business enterprises and trading enterprises to be controlled separately. They are a separate question. A number of the elements of their budgets and balance sheets cloud the issue in relation to government figures.

According to the Government's own forward estimates, the cash deficits over the next three years are to be $31m, $3m and $5m. Add to that about $45m that we are going to get from the Grants Commission. The $45m I calculate from the $55m that is on offer,

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