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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 5 Hansard (3 May) . . Page.. 1458 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Some of the smaller environmental initiatives announced by the government are also misleading. For example, there is a new $100,000 sustainable catchments program, which appears to be just a renamed version of the old Decade of Landcare program but with less money, as it was $125,000 last year.

The additional funding for the new joint management arrangements for Namadgi National Park is good, but I wonder how much of this is going into new administrative arrangements and how much will be spent on the on-the-ground project. There are also increased demands on the Canberra Nature Park but no extra funding.

I stand by my statements that this government is not committed to the environment. For a government that is supposedly committed to ecologically sustainable development, it has demonstrated no idea at all of how to integrate environmental concerns into its broader decision-making.

While on the one hand the minister says he is committed to the environment, we have as major initiatives in this budget the handover of $10 million to car owners as a reduction in their car registration and over $100 million in new roads. It is not enough for a government to say that cyclists and buses can use these roads too. A government that is truly committed to the environment would be looking at ways of reducing our overall transport demands. It would be developing an integrated transport strategy that favours public transport and non-car modes rather than treating them as an afterthought for those people who cannot or do not want to use cars. Car owners get money while the bus service is left struggling. ACTION may be getting some new gas buses, but the government has done nothing in this budget about the inequitable and unattractive zonal bus fare system for adults.

The government is still giving away millions of dollars to the dinosaur sport of car racing, through the V8 Supercar race and the Rally of Canberra, which brings me to the question of industry development. I am running out of time, but I will just a few comments on the government's industry strategy, which it appears to me is pretty well non-exist and very random.

I asked a question about the R&D grants scheme. We have seen a considerable reduction in what the government is estimating it will spend on research and development grants. They have not been able to spend the money they said they would spend. It makes you wonder whether the government has any well thought out industry policy.

We see government handing over significant amounts of support to certain sectors of the business community. We see particularly technology parks, high-tech parks, getting support. Micro Forte at CIT campus at Watson is receiving more support, or maybe it is the AIE. Anyway, there is more support for that technology park. The Brindabella Business Park is going ahead with the blessing of the government. On the other hand, the zoning at Fern Hill Park is changing to residential because they cannot sell the spaces in the technology park. It just makes you wonder what on earth this government is doing.

In the draft budget process-we have got a response from government-we asked the government to make clear in its operating statements how much we are giving up through revenue forgone, waivers and grants of land. The government said this was not

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