Page 2145 - Week 06 - Thursday, 26 June 2008
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We have provided $100 million of additional funding for climate change initiatives, a $50 million direct investment in information and communication technology infrastructure, a $200 million boost to the existing capital works program. That is what this budget provides. Around $700 million of that investment will be funded from existing surpluses and $300 million will be funded from the current and future budget capacity.
Some of the specific capital programs and projects that are funded in this budget are youth construction works of $532 million across the budget and forward estimates; feasibility and forward designs of $31 million; capital upgrades of $42 million; capital grants of $13 million; the continuation of the whole-of-government capital improvement program of $3 million; the establishment of a $4 million contingency fund for the capital works program; new plant and equipment of $62 million; new information and communication technology initiatives that total $24 million.
Additionally, there is provision for $726 million over five years detailed in the budget for future programs and projects relating to climate change, transport, improving the urban amenity, capital works to support economic growth of the city. Works in progress from previous years will carry through into the budget projects, with expenditure totalling $372 million to be completed over the next three years. There is the delivery of a responsive and forward-reaching program of current expenditure initiatives totalling $403 million over four years across major areas of priority expenditure and need. There is a significant investment in addressing climate change, with funding now at $242 million over the period 2007-08 to 2012-13.
There is the targeted tax concessions for pensioners and first homebuyers; an increase in the payroll tax threshold from $1.25 million to $1.5 million; a strong general government balance sheet, with the asset base growing by more than 10 per cent. Four major initiatives alone will reduce CO2 emissions massively. There are significant operating cash surpluses across the budget and across the forward estimates.
That is just an outline of the infrastructure and capital spend included within this budget. A massive almost $1.5 million infrastructure and capital spend over and above existing programs incorporated in the budget papers, from funds carried forward, as well as the additional $1.5 million, plus capital projects to be delivered by ACT government statutory authorities such as Actew, take the spend currently anticipated, allocated for or budgeted by the government and its agencies to in excess of $2 billion.
That includes, of course, in excess of $300 million which the government has agreed that Actew should pursue to secure our water future. They are real policies, real projects, real money and a real commitment to meeting the needs of this community. That includes a brand new dam at the Cotter; planning for an additional pipe from the Murrumbidgee to Googong; significant additional works to secure and strengthen Googong; additional capacity at Mount Stromlo to treat our water; additional works to secure a continued future and quality for our water treatment plant at lower Molonglo. Those are some of the capital projects.
There is some interest and discussion about the nature of the program and some criticism of this government in relation to the level of expenditure of the capital
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