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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 961 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The new works program is progressing reasonably, with year to date expenditure of $19.597m. This is about 32 per cent of the budgeted amount for the new works program and 21 per cent of the value of new works committed in the current year. This compares favourably with the previous year's expenditure on new works, which has historically attained a completion level of 28 to 35 per cent of the value for the full year.

The quarterly report is project specific. It recognises that changes to expenditure estimates do occur and, where applicable, these updates have been provided. The major variation to date is the inclusion in the program of the ACT Hospice project, at a financing cost of $3m this financial year.

MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety): For the information of members, I present the following paper:

I ask for leave to make a short statement.

Leave granted.

MR HUMPHRIES: For the information of members, and pursuant to subsection 47(3) of the Financial Management Act 1996, I present an approval for a loan guarantee to the CPS Credit Union for an applicant of the small business loan guarantee scheme. The underlying principle of this scheme is to provide small businesses with finance for capital investments in the expectation that they will succeed in establishing and developing their businesses and increasing their potential for future business growth.

It is intended that the scheme will give eligible applicants access to loans to a maximum of $10,000 over a period of up to four years for an approved financial institution. The CPS Credit Union has agreed to support the principles of the scheme by providing concession rates to eligible applicants, and has been selected as the loan provider.

The attached FMA instrument has been approved by the chief executive, the Department of Treasury and Infrastructure (as Delegate), pursuant to the small business loan guarantee scheme. The loan guarantee is for Mr Damien Colburn, who has submitted an application and business plan for financing under the scheme to establish an autoparts warehouse and workshop.

I stress that these are guarantees, not loans, grants or any other form of financial assistance and that the maximum exposure under the scheme is capped at $500,000. To date, loans to the value of $42,270 have been approved under the scheme.

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