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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 6 Hansard (13 June) . . Page.. 1575 ..

I assume that means me and Mr Rugendyke.

Mr Rugendyke: Don't speak on my behalf.

MS TUCKER: Mr Rugendyke is not listening. Mr Rugendyke thinks I am speaking on his behalf. I am not. If Mrs Burke and Mr Hird claim that the majority of the committee did not allow them to have input, I am asking them whether that means you and me, Mr Rugendyke. You do not have to be sensitive. I am not talking about you. I am asking for a clarification from Mrs Burke.

I look forward to hearing from Mrs Burke and Mr Hird. I do not recall, except once or twice, being put in a position where I felt I was being asked by Mrs Burke or Mr Hird to consider their different view. Once or twice I remember arguing for a point that Mrs Burke had raised, and I think it got into the report. I said to Mrs Burke, "It is your right to argue that and I support your right." She is nodding.

I am concerned about what came out in this article. Mrs Burke and Mr Hird might say this is bad journalism-I do not know-but that is not the case at all. They did have every opportunity to put their view, and they did not do that. We are getting it today, apparently, but we still have not had the benefit of seeing it. I am sorry that that is the case.

I would like to deal with some of the recommendations in the report that I think are particularly important. As Mr Quinlan said, there is an important reflection of the community's views in this report. I sincerely hope that the government does look at each recommendation seriously and understand that a lot of thought and work have gone into the report, and not just by the members of this parliament. It might suit their political agenda to bag it for the reason that other politicians are involved, but they need to remember that there is a strong community input that supports most of the recommendations of the estimates report. They need to treat that work with respect.

As Mr Quinlan has already explained, we discussed the process and we were going to make a recommendation about how the community appears to think it is useful to have the opportunity to put their views on what they think should go into a budget and where the need is. We were going to support that community view through a recommendation but, as Mr Quinlan has already explained, there was dissent from three members of the committee, and unfortunately they did not put up an alternative recommendation. There is just a reflection of the discussion between Labor and me on the various merits or the not so good aspects of the process as it has evolved over the last few years.

I agree with Mr Quinlan. How do you define a budget? That is the key question in what a draft budget is. If you agree that a budget is full financial information, then clearly we did not have a draft budget. If you think a budget talks about initiatives and some items of expenditure, we did have a draft budget.

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