Page 2239 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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read out a couple of recommendations in relation to the skills commission—very sensible, moderate recommendations. They were probably not even looked at by this arrogant government; they just ditched them, along with all the other recommendations. I suppose that is an easy cop-out. Again, maybe they should go back and read some of those sensible recommendations.
Mr Smyth: The Treasurer has run away, Bill.
MR STEFANIAK: He has indeed. The community has been waiting for years for the ACT government to do something about skill shortages, and it is time that the government finally did something tangible about this issue. Business has been telling them what to do. We have suggested what they can do. I am pleased to see some effort being made to recruit skilled migrants overseas, and there are a lot of other issues in relation to encouraging people, young or older people, back into the workforce in relation to skills we so desperately need here.
The government also continues to make hefty cuts to the business and industry development area, with a cut in payments for government outputs of $2.8 million and an overall cut of $4.5 million. This sector has been gutted in the past year, losing most of its staff. It went from about 51 or 52 halfway through 2006 to about 15. It went as low as about eight at one stage, and it might get up to about 19. Its establishment is 18. It has been absolutely gutted. This section will receive $5 million in payments for government outputs this year and $11 million in total. That is probably less than what was paid for similar programs 10 years ago. Remember that these programs were what helped the ACT immensely during those dark days when the Keating government cut the number of public servants—and the Howard government did, too, in the mid-nineties. They were dark days when innovative solutions had to be thought up to get businesses to operate here.
I recall 29 new businesses setting up, two of which fell over. Of course, the Chief Minister is wont to rave about one of those, but when you think of all those other businesses that took in a lot of workers, that were given simple incentives that cost little, if any, money and that helped the ACT during a very difficult period, you see that this government is now benefiting from the hard work done by a previous Liberal government.
It is a case sometimes of spending a dollar here and a dollar there, and you might get it back 10, 20, 50 or a hundredfold. In a question earlier today about the sports budget, it was shown that a grant of $1 can save $10, $20, $50 or $100 spent on health issues down the track. So it is a small amount of money well spent. Again, we have wrong priorities from the government.
At 6.00 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.
MR STEFANIAK: I think it shows how short-sighted the government’s approach to industry development has been over the last couple of years. Recently, in question time, Mr Stanhope was bemoaning the ACT’s narrow economic base. He stated:
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