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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 301 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The ACT Government has also been active in assisting community welfare groups. A departmental officer participated in a seminar for the welfare sector and the ACT Government supported ACTCOSS in its successful attempt to obtain Commonwealth funding to provide assistance to the welfare sector. The ACT Government has also facilitated contact between the ATO and community welfare groups.

Finally, Mr Speaker, I would like to say that the ACT Government is being proactive in ensuring that the GST implementation in ACT government agencies is dealt with in an efficient manner. I am confident that the ACT Government will work very closely with the ATO, the consultancy team, agencies and the ACT community to ensure a smooth transition and will be GST ready by 1 July 2000. I present the following paper:

I move:

MR QUINLAN (4.32): Mr Speaker, I will be very brief on this matter because, obviously, I did not have any notice of it. I do feel a little satisfaction that the Government has recognised that there have been deficiencies, to the point of needing to come to this place with a statement putting the best spin on what has been done to date, and that in February 2000 we have reached the planning stage. As I did point out when the draft budget was brought down, it was necessary that there be some work done and there would be some impacts on the budget. I saw $3.5m fly by in the course of the Treasurer's speech today.

Ms Carnell: That is in the budget this year.

MR QUINLAN: In the Treasurer's advance; all right. As to the draft budget, I have contended in a number of places that it looks like it started at the bottom line, because we had a bottom line back in May of $2.1m and we have heralded today that we are back in the black. Somehow a lot of numbers above the $2.1m have changed; but, coincidentally, we have fallen out at $2.1m again with - I will not say creative accounting - some novel treatments of superannuation adjustments and revisions, treatments that were quite considerably different from treatments that were incorporated into this Government's first statements based on accrual accounting when they were, I think, painting a picture of having taken over a terrible economy. There was a $91m negative adjustment at that stage which was incorporated into the bottom line and which came to $344m, a number which the Chief Minister has used again and again. I wonder whether, from this point on, she will revise that $344m by the rinky-dink amortisation process that has been applied to the positive adjustment of superannuation, now being moved above the line to give this coincidental result.

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