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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1592 ..

Contrast those things with what we had under Labor:

• A $344 million operating loss, according to the ACT Auditor-General;

• A crisis in our health and education systems;

• Ineffective budget strategies; and

• An ideological approach to the provision of services, no matter how inefficient they were.

Mr Speaker, the 2000-2001 ACT budget is one which builds and cultivates our social capital. Indeed, it invests heavily in our social capital, because this government believes that a strong sense of social capital underpins and enriches our community and all the members of it. Only through responsible financial management can we return a dividend to the Canberra community like the one we deliver today. Only through responsible financial management can we set about improving the quality of life for everyone in this city. Mr Speaker, that is what this budget does, and for that reason I commend the budget for 2000-2001 to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Quinlan ) adjourned.

MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety) (3.54): Mr Speaker, I present the Appropriation Bill 1999-2000 (No 3), together with its explanatory memorandum.

Title read by Clerk.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I move:

This bill provides for appropriations in 1999-2000 totalling $7.724 million to the Department of Urban Services and $4.896 million to the Department of Justice and Community Safety. The appropriation to the Department of Urban Services provides $4.426 million as a government payment for the net cost of outputs and $3.298 million capital injection. These amounts will be on-passed to ACTION as an additional payment for services purchased and to cover the increased cost of services in 1999-2000.

This will be used to address significant pressures faced by ACTION in both its costs and revenues. These pressures include the price increases in fuel, which are a significant and unavoidable cost for ACTION; the cost for legal settlements arising from accidents prior to 1998; increases in workers compensation insurance costs and employee expenses; delays in achieving projected savings from last year's enterprise bargaining agreement and revisions in services; and lower than expected fare revenue as a result of the trend towards the purchase of discounted and periodical tickets.

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