Page 1169 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The ACT government could learn a lot from its federal counterparts. The federal opposition are quick to attribute Australia’s economic prosperity to the mining resources boom—that was cited yesterday—and to accuse the Howard government of somehow squandering this windfall. This shows their ignorance and ignores the sound fundamental economic policies that the Howard government has adopted. Indeed, if you look at the service sector, at retail and every other area, we are enjoying record growth across the board; it is not just a mining boom. I implore the Treasurer to look more thoroughly at national statistics and he will see that in fact it is not just the mining and commodity sector that have contributed to this boom.
The ACT is experiencing a boom and benefiting from greater amounts of federal investment than ever before. So are we paying less or receiving more? No. In fact it has been squandered by those opposite. The ACT government is squandering the windfall that it has been and is receiving through direct payments, through record levels of taxation and through growth in the property market, which has delivered massive levels of revenue to the territory government.
This motion calls on the ACT government to commit to sound economic principles and in doing so to seek to reduce the tax burden on the people of Canberra. I commend this motion to the Assembly.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Minister for the Environment, Water and Climate Change, Minister for the Arts) (11.34): I have made no secret of the fact that this commonwealth budget will be good for Canberra and will benefit our economy. I have also been unambiguously clear that under my leadership the ACT economy and the financial situation of the ACT government will not leave a millstone for future territorians.
The activities of the federal government and the fortunes of the ACT economy are inextricably linked and I intend to make the most of the good years but also to ensure that the economy and the territory’s finances are sustainably based to ride out the bad years. We all remember, of course, the dark days of 1996 and 1997 when the Liberal Party cut 10,000 jobs out of the ACT economy.
The commonwealth government has an enormous influence on the territory’s finances and this was clearly demonstrated in the myriad announcements contained in the federal budget. The expansion of commonwealth policy expenditure, which has amounted to around $52 billion since the midyear statement, comes on top of the $17.5 billion of policy expenditure between the last federal budget and the midyear statement, and of course can only be good for Canberra. Our economy will clearly benefit from a part of this additional expenditure and it will continue to provide a base for economic growth in the territory.
I was relieved, through this budget, to see that the hope of the Griffin legacy is beginning to be fulfilled, 95 years after it was set down. The commonwealth has pledged almost $72 million over four years for two Griffin legacy infrastructure projects: the first, the duplication of Constitution Avenue, and the second—good news to those travelling to and from the airport—funding for a flyover at the Kings Avenue
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .