Page 1619 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2007
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Let us turn to some specific areas of the latest budget. Let us talk about business and economic development. On budget breakfast morning, we had the most amazing statement from the Chief Minister. Mr Speaker, it was a shame that you were not there to hear it. What did Jon Stanhope tell the people of Australia? What did he say? Speaking on the need for Canberra to maintain a budget surplus, Mr Stanhope said, “We are susceptible as a small jurisdiction in that we do not have our destiny entirely in our own hands.” Well, why not? He went on to say, “Decisions that the federal government might make, particularly if there were a change of government”—that is, to a Labor government under Kevin Rudd—“could have significant impacts on employment levels or construction activity and our budget would suffer immediately.” That is why we need a buffer. Why do we need a buffer in our budget? To protect us from Kevin Rudd and federal Labor. Jon Stanhope is afraid that a federal Labor government elected some time this year will be detrimental to the people of Canberra. There are two things to concentrate on here.
Mr Hargreaves: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: could the beloved former leader of the rabble—sorry, the opposition—take it back, withdraw it instantly? Could the former Leader of the Opposition please tell us where in our budget papers it talks about the federal opposition?
MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
MR SMYTH: I am quoting your glorious leader at breakfast. If you had managed to get up for breakfast—
MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, if Mr Hargreaves had managed to get up for breakfast and come and support his leader—his absence was noted, along with that of just about all the other members except for Ms Porter and the Deputy Chief Minister. There was nobody else from the Labor Party holding the hand of the Chief Minister on this little budget. Why? Because they are afraid of Kevin Rudd as well. And the interesting thing is that federal Labor are saying that they need to cut between $1 billion and $3 billion out of the budget and that it will come out of Canberra.
That is why Jon Stanhope is afraid of a Kevin Rudd Labor government being elected later this year. And he should be afraid, because it shows his neglect. So many commentators over so many years have now said, “You make hay while the sun shines.” They have kept the analogies really simple for the Chief Minister. You fix the roof when it is dry, not when it is raining. You build infrastructure; you build industry. You do not do it when you cannot afford it. That is the problem. Business and economic development have been neglected by this Chief Minister.
We have seen the economic white paper—the statement of the bleeding obvious—just thrown out of the window: “Ted is leaving; he is jumping ship. We will get rid of Ted.” So there is that gone. The message the Chief Minister sent to the business community this year was: “We are not interested. We do not care—unless, of course, you want to pay $1,400 to come and sit at my table. That is the only way you are going to get to talk to me, because I am not going to the chamber of commerce here.
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