Page 1183 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 30 May 2007
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I hope that is simple enough for those opposite, particularly Ms MacDonald, to understand. Each state will receive more revenue from the GST than it would have received from the previous financial arrangements. Just understand that there is more money for Labor states to squander. By 2010-11, the revenue windfall will increase to $4.6 billion. That is the difference.
Let us compare the approaches. The Howard government chose to pay off the Beasley black hole and the Beasley debt—surplus budgeting the whole time. They have had 10 successive surpluses. They have reduced taxes. They have grown the economy, grown the cake. It is a bigger cake that we all get to share. At the same time they have been building infrastructure. Compare this to the Stanhope government approach. They have increased taxes, run budget deficits and ignored business growth. Let us face it. The growth in the ACT since the Stanhope Labor government came to power has been on the back of an incredibly strong federally powered Liberal government creating jobs, wealth and infrastructure.
Mr Hargreaves: What!
MR SMYTH: The Stanhope government has ignored infrastructure, the real infrastructure, for personal folly. Let us look at it, Mr Hargreaves. They have upgraded the Federal Highway and the Barton Highway and worked on the national gallery. We are getting a new portrait gallery. They have upgraded the mint and upgraded defence. We have got $165 million worth of national museum, and the list goes on. We got $72 million for the upgrade of the Walter Burley Griffin legacy. The list is enormous, and every year there is substantial funding to the national capital from the Howard Liberal government.
Let us contrast that with the approach that Kevin Rudd and Senator Lundy will take. The first cab off the rank will be to gut the NCA. Why? Because the NCA is the only thing stopping the wholesale destruction of the city of Canberra as we know it under the failed former planning minister, Simon Corbell, aided and abetted by his Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.
But then we get to be very selective. It is interesting. Yet again the Chief Minister is like a jack-in-the-box. He pops up to give a little speech and then he bounces away. He does not even give this place the courtesy of staying for a debate. There are currently two members on the government benches and six over here on the opposition benches. We take this issue seriously. The Chief Minister said, “Let us look at the surpluses and deficits in the last 12 years.” Of course he did not want to talk about the Follett days—nobody would want to talk about them.
Did he give an explanation as to why some of the deficits occurred? He forgot to mention the former Labor leader’s $344 million black hole, the operating loss that we were left with and that we had to fix. He forgot to mention that they had flooded and devalued the housing market so dramatically that you could not sell a house. You certainly could not sell a block of land for the first two years Kate Carnell was in office because the market was awash.
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