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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (29 June) . . Page.. 2270 ..

Mr Quinlan: Free school buses. What else did it contain?

MR HUMPHRIES: Do not change the subject. Just listen to what this is all about. Labor got stuck into the Carnell government in a big way about those things. It severely attacked the measures that we were taking that reduced expenditure and increased revenue.

Mr Quinlan: As you do.

MR HUMPHRIES: As you do. But the effect of the measures we were taking, whatever else you might say about it, was to improve the bottom line. You do not cut expenditure and increase revenue without improving your bottom line, unless you have some ghastly problem with the overall economic situation. And, of course, this was the year before the federal government began to make heavy cuts in the size of its public service. The economy was doing okay at that time. So, the economy is doing all right, we are reducing expenditure, we are increasing revenue, we are doing everything to improve the bottom line and Labor is complaining about the improvements in the bottom line.

Logically, how could it be that in the midst of all of this we somehow caused a massive deterioration in the balance sheet from when we took office until when the first full financial years figures were available, as audited by the Auditor-General, for 1995-96? How could that be? Clearly it could not be. Clearly it just does not make sense. Clearly we inherited a substantial operating loss from Labor. There is no alternative-

Mr Quinlan: That is not what you have said. You have given a number out of your own performance.

MR HUMPHRIES: I will come back to that point.

Mr Quinlan: You have given a number that includes an abnormal $90 million.

MR HUMPHRIES: Let me get to it. You will have a chance to make your point, Mr Quinlan. So we have worked out that there must have been an operating loss inherited from Labor, and a pretty substantial one. What we now appear to differ on is the size of the loss.

Mr Quinlan: Very important.

MR HUMPHRIES: Very important. Mr Quinlan is touting the figure of $200 million around the place.

Mr Quinlan: That is the difference between the bottom line and your original budget.

MR HUMPHRIES: Well, let us call the operating loss $200 million rather than $349 million.

Mr Quinlan: No, that is the difference between-

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