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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2504 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

Based on words from the Chief Minister, not from the Treasurer, it would appear we are already at least $107 million in surplus, not the $61 million that the Treasurer estimated. When you look at the chart on the page before page 1 in Budget Paper 2, you can see quite clearly, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, that the figures presented to this place are not to be trusted.

Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, the final position for the financial year 2002-2003, of course, becomes the starting point for next year, and for some time now, indeed since budget day, I've been saying there has been doubt cast on the veracity of the Treasurer's figures. Recent announcements by the Chief Minister-not the Treasurer but the Chief Minister-would lead us to believe that the surplus is at least $107 million. Other sources have indicated to me that it may be as high as $150 million or $160 million. That would depend on whether or not we get paid for the land that has been either legally or inappropriately sold by Mr Corbell's department.

Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, we'd be pleased if it were much stronger, and that would be great. I've been saying for some time that it should be stronger. However, you have to question how we as members of the Assembly can make informed decisions when we don't have the right starting point.

Today we heard from the Chief Minister, on the day after the budget was passed, there's at least enough money now apparently to build a prison. What's happened between January and June? Remember after the bushfires, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker: "Oh, woe is us. We're broke; there is no money. Doom, gloom; the sky is falling."Today apparently there's been an announcement by the Chief Minister that a prison worth $102 million is now able to be built because the cash is there and things are so good.

So we have all this extra money. Well, why wasn't that included in the budget? Why weren't we told last night? Why weren't we informed before today? Maybe we won't be informed today and we'll have to wait a little bit longer.

I hope that the Treasurer will accept the direction of this motion and table this document because it was apparent in the estimates process-and you, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, were part of that estimates process-that there were concerns about how accurate, how trustworthy, these figures were. This is what the motion is about. Can you trust the figures that the Treasurer has put before us? Is it transparent? Is it open? Is it accountable? Is it honest? They were the words that were used, ad infinitum, by the Chief Minister in the lead-up to the last election, and they are the words that we don't seem to be responding to well. It is important.

What's also important is whether or not the Treasurer will take the opportunity to inform the house when he actually knew that the surplus was going to be much stronger. Did he know before he read his speech in this place, when he said it was only $66 million over the four years, that next year there would be a deficit of $7.7 million?

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