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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (7 December) . . Page.. 3853 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

of revenues ahead of the GST. The territory has maintained its net asset position above budget expectations. Total net assets held at the end of 1999 - 2000 were $7.04 billion, which is $343 million stronger than the budgeted position and represents a $196 million increase on 1998 - 99. The strong balance sheet of the territory, combined with a strong surplus, means that the Treasurer and I and the government expect that the territory's credit risk rating will remain at AAA, the highest available in this country.

Mr Speaker, having achieved the territory's first surplus, this government has an ongoing commitment to ensuring that the surplus of the territory is maintained. We will continue to deliver on this commitment in order to ensure that the territory is well placed to deliver the high - quality social outcomes that the people of Canberra deserve. The financial management plans and structures that have been put in place are clearly delivering on this commitment.

MR QUINLAN: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a statement on the same matter.

Leave granted.

MR QUINLAN: I want to make a few comments in light of this paper and some of the things that Mrs Carnell said in answer to Mr Hird's question earlier today. Since self - government the territory has gradually improved its situation. If you look at the stream of numbers, there is no great evidence that expenditures have been held down, but certainly successive governments have gradually jacked up the taxation base. It is not a straight linear improvement, because the territory, like the national economy, has been through some tough times. The territory has also been through some good times, as the national economy has, and is going through some good times right now.

A lot was made earlier about unemployment figures. I was a bit saddened to hear the spin coming on Mrs Carnell's last day. It is a fact that the ACT's unemployment level has always been better than the national average. That goes back many years to well before self - government. It is a function of the fact that the ACT population is generally better educated than that of the rest of Australia and, when the work is not here, tends to be a bit more mobile and obviously a bit more flexible.

There has been debate in this place about how much of the economy is private sector driven and how much is government driven. Yet the briefing that the Treasurer gave to the select committee on budget parameters this year for the first time said, "What we were putting out before was all propaganda, and in fact the great driver of the ACT economy is Commonwealth expenditure." That is black and white in the Treasurer's briefing to the select committee. That is the first step towards getting a little bit closer to reality in what we say.

Any member can look at the state final demand figures and see the level of government - driven expenditure versus private expenditure. Sure, there has been some government outsourcing, but the fountainhead of the resources and the fountainhead of the money that goes into the economy is still the Commonwealth government. The ratio from the private sector has worsened in recent times, because the improvement in the ACT economy at the moment is due to a substantial increase in Commonwealth expenditures. That is a matter of ABS figures. It is unfortunate that every time we hear this government speak we have to take it with a grain of salt.

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