Page 655 - Week 03 - Thursday, 15 March 2007
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2006-07 budget required the ACT government to make some hard decisions to ensure that future generations of Canberrans would not be left with crippling debt. It does not say anything about increased taxes—nothing whatsoever.
I can table that document if members want to look at it or just pass it around. It says nothing at all about the increased taxes. There is just a small mention about making some hard decisions. I wonder how much money they are actually saving by making some of those hard decisions. Education is a case in point. Even with their much-trumpeted school closures they are not going to save very much money at all there—a matter of several million dollars a year. There is nothing in this press release about the huge increase in debt being incurred, the fact that ordinary Canberrans in many instances are paying 40 per cent more in their rates and taxes, and the fact that small businesses are paying up to 65 per cent more.
Mr Stanhope: What do you say, Mr Mulcahy? Are you going to reopen them all?
MR STEFANIAK: You are aware of our promises, Mr Stanhope. You do not have to try to gild the lily, play Joseph Goebbels and invent a whole lot of nonsensical policies that we have not committed to or said anything about. Do not put words into our mouths, Mr Stanhope. Our policies are on the table.
Mr Stanhope: The table is pretty bare, though.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Stanhope!
MR STEFANIAK: In terms of parking charges, we promised we would abolish them at the hospitals. Guess what, Mr Stanhope: we will probably save a bit of money because the administrative expenses for that cost you more than the half a million dollars you say you are going to save there.
We have here a government that has increased taxes and increased charges to cover itself and it does not like what the figures actually show. It does not want to use the numbers in the midyear report that show the increases in taxes and, instead, use a different set of numbers. The government told us about figures measured under the Australian Accounting Standards showing a net operating surplus, never mind that the standard are no longer used.
Mr Smyth: You went back to the old system.
Mr Stanhope: Mr Smyth told us about a $390 million deficit.
MR SPEAKER: Order! You are leaving me nowhere to go.
MR STEFANIAK: Since then we have moved on. So what do we have? We have a government who have incurred deficits by runaway spending. They are now starting to pull themselves out of the pit. Some actions they have taken have been incredibly panicky. They are starting to pull themselves out of the pit, but not by better financial management; it is largely by increasing taxes and charges, with a bit of good luck along the way, especially in terms of the superannuation revenues that are coming in.
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