Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 5 Hansard (3 May) . . Page.. 1435 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

$81 million surplus in 1999-2000. All of those results were produced originally by either the Office of Financial Management, as it was then called, or the Treasury, as it then became. They were then independently audited and confirmed by the Auditor-General.

Mr Quinlan has produced these figures from the Grants Commission. The figures that he has produced first of all, particularly for the year 1995-96, are figures produced on a cash accounting basis. He talks at the bottom about misleading claims and the true story. When you read the fine print in that document, Mr Quinlan, the years we are talking about there are cash accounting years. We have moved off cash accounting to accrual accounting. Haven't you noticed that? That process was one that you people over there welcomed. You welcomed the move to accrual accounting.

Mr Stanhope: Tell us about 1996-97.

MR HUMPHRIES: Indeed, 1995-96 was the first accrual accounting budget produced, or backcast budget produced, in the ACT.

Mr Quinlan: It is their assessment of you in 2001.

MR HUMPHRIES: Just listen for a moment. Those figures are still cash figures. They are cash accounting figures.

Mr Stanhope: The 1996-97 ones?

MR HUMPHRIES: Yes. The 1995-96 and the 1996-97 figures are in cash accounting terms. They do not in any way repudiate the claim that the ACT had a $344 million loss in accrual terms, which is what we have been talking about now on a comparative basis for some time, in 1995-96. Not for one moment. Mr Speaker, this is "Working Capital" all over again. "Working Capital" and the mistakes and the stuff-ups from that period are being revisited on us all.

The figures quoted in Mr Quinlan's press release, it needs to be remembered-

Mr Quinlan: There are no extraordinary items in here.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I ask for-

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR HUMPHRIES: Thank you. The figures that Mr Quinlan is quoting are not full government figures. The Grants Commission admits that in its report. Those are the figures only for standardised parts of state and territory budgets. For example, those figures do not include assessments of our municipal budget in the ACT. In case you have not noticed, we have a Department of Urban Services which basically delivers municipal-type services in this community. You are relying on a set of figures which do not include a huge chunk of the ACT budget relating to the Department of Urban Services.

Mr Quinlan: Is that what you say is $170 million in a year?

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .