Page 1319 - Week 05 - Thursday, 31 May 2007
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there are now more than 120 additional police protecting Canberrans than when this government was elected. Our emergency services have been improved, with expenditure increasing by well over $41 million, or 116 per cent. The responsiveness to fire, emergency and ambulance call-outs continues to be fast. Public and community housing has been strengthened, with over $83 million being provided since the government was elected. This includes support for affordable housing. Around $15 million has been provided to address homelessness and emergency accommodation.
Mr Speaker, the ACT is experiencing a period of sustained economic growth and prosperity. The last few years have seen increased economic activity providing a strong foundation for increased confidence in the ACT. This has been assisted by the government’s sound financial management, which has created a framework for ongoing growth. At the same time, the government has strengthened the services that the community expects. It is because of the government’s financial strategy for taking care of the future of this territory that we have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy in the ACT the best services in Australia.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (4.05): They were fascinating words, Mr Speaker. The frightening thing is that I think Ms Porter actually believes some of them. I am glad to speak on this topic today, because it gives me a chance to speak on an area of financial management which has caused some confusion indeed to the territory government. That issue is the issue of sustainable service delivery and budget requirements to sustain government services. This has been an issue which the Chief Minister has had some difficulty with in the last few days, culminating in some strange statements in the Assembly and a rather unfortunate press release which show that he really does not understand the issue and is quite hostile to those who do. So let me take this opportunity to explain how sustainable service delivery works and the financial management that must underline this goal.
Sustainability, as we are aware, refers to the capacity to continue a practice without substantial change and without exhausting the resources which are required to continue. In the case of sustainable service delivery, you must have enough income coming in to continue to provide the services you are providing without allowing those services to deteriorate. Of course, this income must be from some ongoing source. It must not be from a one-off source.
To give some concrete examples, if you are in business or you are a business owner and you receive dividends from an ongoing business concern, then this would be considered sustainable income and a proper basis for sustainable service provision. On the contrary, however, if you are receiving income from selling that business, then this would not be sustainable income since you cannot sell the same business again. It also goes without saying that if you are putting assets aside in order to meet with superannuation liabilities for your employees then this is not your income and is not a basis for sustainable service delivery.
So how does this bear on government financial management? In order to be able to deliver sustainable services, you must know how much money you have coming in and how much money you have going out. You must be honest about whether you are operating in the red or the black, and this means that you must be able to look at your
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