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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 5 Hansard (6 May) . . Page.. 1557 ..
MR BERRY: I concede. Thank you, Mr Speaker. In ACT Community Care, FTEs in 1998-99, 912, and FTEs in 1999-2000, 906, a difference of minus 6. Total that up - 353 jobs. If your papers are wrong, then it is about time you did something about them, Mr Moore. Just say that your papers are wrong. Delivering to the community budget papers which are incorrect is a dishonest approach to government. Mr Moore, when you interject next, I will have a little present for you.
MR SPEAKER: Order! There will be no interjections next time, Mr Berry.
MR BERRY: If he wants to spit the dummy he can have this one.
Ms Carnell: It suits you.
MR BERRY: It certainly does. Nobody would be surprised by that. I am just about to get to him because I want to talk about what the Australian Education Union has had to say about Mr Moore. Let us talk about education for a moment, Mr Speaker. In February, Mr Moore said:
... I've made it very clear since, that I'm not changing my stance on education, that if in the next two and a half years, during this electoral period, if a Government cuts education funding to schools, then we will have a no confidence motion.
Ho, ho, ho! Education cuts were made. Mr Speaker, $1.5m was taken out of the education budget and spirited off into the treasury. A whole range of election promises which were intended to come from new money came out of the base. There were very clearly cuts to the education funding. Everybody agreed with that. The Assembly's Estimates Committee agreed with it, Mr Speaker, but did Mr Moore want to talk about that? No, of course he did not. Plenty of opportunities arose here for him after that. We were waiting for the motion of no confidence that Mr Moore was going to move, but what did we hear from Mr Moore? Excuses and the thinnest of explanations as to how it was not an education cut, that the $1.5m reduction was not a cut.
Mr Moore: Last year you said that it was $4m.
MR BERRY: Of course, that $1.5m plus all of the initiatives that were taken out of the base funding added up to close to $4m and Mr Moore did nothing. He did absolutely nothing. He should be wearing a pointed hat as well, Mr Speaker, because a good student of politics would know and understand that when you make promises you should stick to them. Dunces' corner for Mr Moore.
Mr Speaker, I would also like to draw some attention to a press release that was issued this morning - - -
Mr Moore: Wayne, I did not lead a group into dismal failure in an election.
MR SPEAKER: Order, please! I cannot hear Mr Berry. I may have to ask him to repeat his speech.
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