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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3551 ..

Mr Wood (continuing):

Security Industry Act-Attorney General (Determination of Fees and Charges for 2003/2004) (Amendment No 1) 2003 (No 1)-Disallowable Instrument DI2003-259 (without explanatory statement), (LR, 29 August 2003).

Utilities Act-Utilities (Variation of Franchise Customer Electricity Metering Code) Approval 2003 (No 1)-Disallowable Instrument DI2003-256 (LR, 25 August 2003).

Supplementary answer to question without notice

Health action plan

MR CORBELL: Mrs Cross asked me in question time today when the Health Council first met and how many meetings had occurred since that time. I am happy to clarify for Mrs Cross and members that the Health Council first met on 20 March 2003 and has met four times since. It will meet again on 15 October 2003. Mrs Cross also asked me a supplementary question on which I sought clarification, which she did not provide. If Mrs Cross still wants to get that information, I will be happy to answer the question if she clarifies exactly what material she is wanting.

Management of Treasury portfolio

Discussion of matter of public importance

MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Speaker has received a letter from Mr Smyth proposing that a matter of public importance be submitted to the Assembly, namely:

MR SMYTH (Leader of Opposition) (5.21): Mr Deputy Speaker, prior to the Labor Party assuming government in the ACT in late 2001, we were regaled by the then ALP opposition as to how good they would be at managing the ACT economy. The question is: what has been the reality of the situation so far of the Labor Party in government in the ACT, remembering that our economy has been performing very strongly over recent years and the drover's dog would have had trouble not making a success of things?

Despite this environment, disappointment is probably the best word to sum up the reaction to this government, especially to the way that the Treasurer has managed the Treasury portfolio. We have been subjected to what has been, and continues to be, a sad saga of sloppiness and laziness in the economic and fiscal affairs of the ACT over the past two years or so, added to which there is the greed that appears to consume some treasurers when they see additional revenue flooding into the exchequer.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as the then opposition admitted prior to the 2001 election, the ACT economy had performed quite well for a number of years. The then shadow Treasurer, Mr Quinlan, commented in June 2001, "The ACT economy has enjoyed economic growth over the course of the last four or five years."Of course, the then Treasurer-in-waiting also sought to paint a picture that, although the ACT had performed, both relatively and actually, very well at least until the end of 2001, the reason for this good performance was apparently just a large slice of good luck. I guess, like all bad sports, he

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