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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 5 Hansard (3 May) . . Page.. 1464 ..

MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):

budget in the lead-up to an election. The difference between this election budget and the last election budget is that there is a surplus to spend. And when it comes to giving credit where it is due, this government has done a good job of balancing the books, particularly when you consider where we were six years ago. There have been examples of disasters such as Bruce Stadium, and the government has paid the price, but, as far as the overall picture is concerned, we are in good shape. The government has managed this process and they have earned the right to use this budget as they please.

But I would like to take this opportunity to put some concerns on the record about how the government has allocated this free-spending. There are a lot of promises in both the social capital and capital works initiatives, and I know that the community will hold the government to these commitments, particularly in my electorate of Ginninderra. There is a perception that many budget initiatives are tilted towards the central electorate of Molonglo. You may recall that Richard Pryor was the star in Brewster's Millions and he had to spend his fortune in quick time to secure an inheritance. Obviously the government is spending up big to secure an election inheritance, and it appears that a hefty part of that investment is in the crucial electorate of Molonglo.

Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I called for enhanced facilities for West Belconnen, including a skate and recreation park at Charnwood and a revamped Kippax Library. The government said the skate park would be funded in the next budget and that it would conduct a feasibility study on the library in this budget. But both projects are still very much promises, and the Ginninderra community will not tolerate them following the same path as the proposed Belconnen Pool.

There appears to be plenty of concrete activity in Molonglo, which is highlighted by the summary of minor new works. If you exclude maintenance at the Canberra Institute of Technology's Bruce Campus, not one of the 121 new projects listed is designated specifically for Belconnen. There are minor new works projects for places like Civic, Gungahlin and Weston Creek, but it is difficult to find minor new works, especially for Belconnen, and that is a concern.

I am not saying that there is no activity in Belconnen. I do not think any government would be silly enough to totally ignore an area. But since being elected to this place there has been a continued emphasis on the redevelopment of the city, and I am concerned that this is at the neglect of other areas.

This is my fourth budget, and I must say it has been an intriguing journey from 1998 to 2001. I suppose one of the disappointments is that every year we have had to bring up the Belconnen pool which has been promised at at least two elections. Our city's growth and confidence has certainly been commendable in this period. I recall that in my first budget we were still referring to a $150 million operating loss, so there have been some tough decisions to endure to get to where we are today.

It is certainly interesting to compare the Brewster's millions budget to 1998, when there were no free school buses or car registration cuts. In fact, in 1998 it was the reverse. At the time I talked about my concern for the impact the budget would have on families. I was worried about families who require larger cars to transport their kids to school or to sport. In that budget they were asked to pay up to $114 extra a year to register their vehicles. These same families also faced a rise in house contents insurance, the flow-on

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