Page 1039 - Week 03 - Thursday, 26 February 2009
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Appropriation Bill 2008-2009 (No 3)
Ms Gallagher, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement and supplementary budget papers.
Title read by Clerk.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Treasurer, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Services and Minister for Women) (10.12): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
It is with great pleasure that I present the local initiatives package to the ACT community. The package delivers a modest program of additional capital projects, and the pre-announcement of the 2009-10 capital upgrades program. It is supported by the third appropriation bill for 2008-09 which I am presenting to the Assembly today. The bill provides additional investment in the buildings and facilities that are used to provide services to our community. I also table, in accordance with section 13 of the Financial Management Act, supplementary budget papers. These papers provide the detailed descriptions of all items included in the package and the associated bill.
This package, almost $25 million over two years, contains a wide variety of works targeted at areas where we consider, and we have advice, that there is emerging capacity in the building and construction industry. The works proposed in this package will be delivered locally by a range of trades—builders, plumbers, roofers, painters, electricians, plasterers, landscape specialists, and so on.
Through our discussions with industry over recent months, particularly the Master Builders Association of the ACT, we know there is a degree of nervousness in the construction and building industry—more so for small business—about what the future holds. The global credit crisis and the slowdown of the national economy understandably present uncertainty. This package seeks to provide some vital confidence and certainty to the industry.
This package is in addition to the already significant work that this government has announced and programmed into our budget. It comprises works that are already at an advanced stage of procurement and/or design, or can be leveraged off existing procurement contracts. It complements the additional work announced by the federal government in its nation building and jobs plan. That package, of which the territory gets a $350 million share, will have a positive impact on this city, in terms of both additional or upgraded facilities that it will provide and the jobs it will support.
The second important part of the package announced today is the details of the $44.3 million 2009-10 capital upgrades program. The program, which provides for capital upgrades works to our existing asset base, would usually be included as part of our annual budget process. However, we believe it prudent and responsible to announce projects and funding today, so that industry can plan for, resource and respond with some certainty to the package of works to be rolled out in the next financial year.
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