Page 1700 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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The government, on a whim, will change the budget paper presentation format and disclosures so that it is difficult for anyone to make any reasonable comparisons one year to the next. Public servants had difficulty understanding the budget papers. The committee recommended that the budget papers be indexed and that more detailed information be provided in a number of areas. Opposition members made some further recommendations for a basic budget that would enable them to compare one budget with another. In the past we were able to do that with the budget papers but this year everyone experienced some sort of difficulty. It was a bit disconcerting to see that even public servants found it difficult to fathom the budget papers.
This government simply cannot get its revenue forecasting right. The committee recommended that the government give the Assembly regular reports on unbudgeted revenue receipts. That is not a particularly arduous task but it is essential if we are to keep people informed. This government must realise that it cannot keep underestimating its revenue forever; it simply has to get it right.
A bit of flexibility is needed but there really is no excuse for a $200 million surplus that simply was not forecasted 12 months ago. Even a moderately competent government should be able to forecast reasonably what surplus it is likely to get. Despite the government’s election promise to implement triple bottom-line reporting, we are still yet to see that. The committee recommended that this be articulated in future and that the Auditor-General review the progress of its implementation.
It appears as though the government has all but abandoned its economic white paper. The committee recommended that the government outline its plans for the major industry groups identified in the paper as being the industries best suited to future business opportunities in the ACT. As I said earlier, I think the committee was very sceptical about the government’s claims that the prison will come in on budget. Will it really? Will it deliver the value for the dollar that was anticipated at the time cabinet gave the project the tick? Will we have the budgeted number of beds? Will we have the other facilities, services and resources that were proposed in the original plan?
The committee recommended that the government provide the Assembly with a full report. We need to keep tabs on this and we must hold the government accountable. The government must keep the Assembly and the community informed on this very expensive project, which most people in our communmity believe is unnecessary. The government abandoned tourism for the ACT, which poses real problems. The committee recommended that the government look at re-establishing ACT Tourism as a statutory authority. It is certainly something that the opposition will do if it is returned to government at the end of next year.
I am pleased to see some recommendations relating to sport and recreation. Any government that is moderately serious about trying to counter obesity and a number of other social problems in our community—keeping kids active, keeping kids positively engaged, providing necessary disciplines as people grow up, which is what sport does—must properly fund sport and recreation. The committee made a number of recommendations relating to sportsgrounds and to funding. I will read out those worthwhile recommendations:
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