Page 1422 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Treasurer, what response do you have to ACTCOSS given that you are not aware of any adverse effects in the ACT of the recession?
MS GALLAGHER: I have been waiting for this question for two days. I have 10 out of 10 from Mr Smyth on both days. Let us go back to the question that that Mr Smyth asked, in usual Smyth style. There have been twists and turns—
Mr Seselja: Did he just misquote you?
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, yes. The question that Mr Smyth actually asked—let us go back—and that I was answering was:
Treasurer, what is the difference between a recession and a technical recession?
I then gave an explanation of that. Then he asked:
… what is the difference in the effect on the Canberra community between a recession and a technical recession?
So, the key here, the secret ingredient, is to actually read the question first and then the supplementary, because, presumably, Mr Smyth wrote them himself and they follow on from each other, which is normal. That is what happened between the first question. So, my answer to the first question was around the difference between what is known as a recession and a technical recession. The second answer was about the impact—what is the difference in the effect on the Canberra community between a recession and a technical recession. So, if you accepted my first answer—I think you did, because you were sort of nodding and thinking, “Oh, damn, she got it right. I’ve been trying to trip her up for months”—and the second question, the technical recession relates to the state final demand figures and the fact that we saw a drop—
Mr Smyth: The question was about the effects.
MS GALLAGHER: If I can just explain it to you, Mr Smyth—
Mr Hanson: Please explain!
MS GALLAGHER: There we have the comedians at work again. They do not have a concentration span of five minutes to actually listen to the answer to the question. Within the first one and a half minutes, there is Mr Hanson cracking jokes and there is Mrs Dunne laughing. It is like a puppet show over there.
But the answer to the question is that the technical recession is caused by two quarter drops in state final demand. What we saw was a massive reduction in commonwealth investment. In fact, those people who understand this and who have commented on it, including the ABS, have said, “Please show caution from interpreting results in the ACT because of the volatility of quarter to quarter.” That is what we have seen. We have seen a big reduction—28 per cent—in December in commonwealth investment. That is the measure.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .