Page 1372 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 5 April 2005
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savings of 20 per cent on the current usage? Then there probably would have been no need for this additional $200,000 appropriation if those measures had been identified and taken in the first place.
The government has also managed to sneak some additional increases into the funding in the second appropriation that are staggered throughout. Amazingly though, whether the government knows already that there are cost blowouts, they have failed to appropriate additional funds. For example, the Minister for Urban Services has already alluded to the fact that, due to ongoing delays and court challenges, the cost of the Gungahlin Drive extension has blown out against the original forecast costs for 2004-05. It appears, however, that there has been no additional funding appropriated to cover these costs—costs that the government knows it will have to cover in this financial year.
Looking also at revenue, we see that the second appropriation bill now forecasts for municipal services an end-of-year decrease in other revenue from $69.4 million to $37.3 million, a drop of approximately $32.1 million. Wonderful! This is a significant reduction in forecast revenue for this department and I wonder how this loss of projected revenue for 2004-05 will affect the upcoming 2005-06 budget. Is this another hint at impending increased fees, fines and taxes in the next budget to cover revenue shortfalls in the current year?
In terms of expenditure, we see a raft of examples of apparent cost blowouts from the original 2004-05 appropriation that show some even more worrying trends. For example, the cost of library and information services is up a massive $486,000 on the original forecast. The cost of online services is up $157,000 on the original forecast. The cost of shopfront and call services is up $233,000 on the original forecast. The cost of territorial roads maintenance is up $260,000 on the original forecast. The cost of municipal roads maintenance is up $71,000 on the original forecast. There is additional funding of $1.15 million for urgent removal of fire damaged trees.
Yes, this was important work that needed to be done, but surely the Stanhope government could have foreseen that, as a result of the devastation of the 2003 fires, there would be ongoing need for funding of such safety measures and should have allowed for a funding safety net in the first appropriation to cover such work—not now, but in the first appropriation. But no, they did not want to detract from their nicely projected $7.9 million surplus. Short-sighted!
The list of cost blowouts goes on. An extra $622,000 is appropriated for horticulture, cleaning and asset maintenance. Another $26,600 is for public place use. An additional $126,000 is for sports grounds and asset maintenance. There is a $127,000 increase towards commissioning, contract and asset management. The cost of domestic animal services is an extra $18,000. The cost of transport advice for road transport regulation services is another $162,000. For the cost of parking services, add $133,000 if you feel like it.
Mrs Dunne: Do they get free parking?
MR PRATT: A good point, Mrs Dunne. The cost of vehicle safety is another $86,000. The cost of customer service is up $26,000. The cost of customer service is up another $86,000 in another function. The cost of transport advice for public transport is an
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