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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 5 Hansard (3 May) . . Page.. 1478 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: I did listen very carefully to the speeches. Mr Berry said that school buses will not add anything to the quality of education in the ACT. That does not sound like a ringing endorsement to me, Mr Speaker. No. In fact, it sounds to me like: "Here is our escape hatch, guys. Here is where we find a few cool million to make ends meet when we find we need to." He also made the statement, one which I feel I should correct on the record, that we are spending more on free school buses then we are spending on lower class sizes. That is not the case. If you look at the budget, the outlays over four years are that we spend more on reducing class sizes than on free school buses, in recurrent terms.

Mr Speaker, I just want to indicate that the most important question which is going to be faced by this Assembly in the next few weeks is going to be what exactly is the Assembly going to do with the budget? We have presented what we think is a pretty good budget, and we think that is what the public reaction has been so far to that budget.

I need to know from the Labor Party whether they intend to support this budget or not. Mr Quinlan and Mr Stanhope, I think, have been in the media today saying that they think it is likely that they will support the budget, or that they probably are going to support the budget. That is not good enough. I am not going to take this government and this territory to the brink of catastrophe and instability again, as was the case last year. I want a commitment from the Labor Party as to whether or not it is going to support his budget. If they cannot give me that commitment I will go and talk to others to pass this budget, Mr Speaker. I need to know that. Labor say they probably are going to support it now. They have realised that there was something of an error of judgment made in the tactics used last year.

Mr Hargreaves: No, we didn't. Don't be silly. Don't be silly as well as wrong.

MR HUMPHRIES: Well, listen to what Mr Quinlan said earlier today.

Mr Hargreaves: I did.

MR HUMPHRIES: I think you will find his words were something like: "We realise that the way politics were played with this last year meant that it was not appropriate to have blocked supply last year."

Mr Hargreaves: Is that a direct quote?

MR HUMPHRIES: No, it is not a direct quote, but they were words to that effect.

Mr Hargreaves: Then get it right before you start accusing him.

MR HUMPHRIES: I ask for a chance to be able to finish my remarks, Mr Speaker, without interruption.

MR SPEAKER: Yes, please.

MR HUMPHRIES: You see what Mr Quinlan said. He conceded that there was a problem with Labor's approach last year.

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