Page 2780 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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straightaway. I do not think there is any doubt about that. The fact that they had to duplicate it almost as soon as they finished it demonstrates just what a reckless abuse of taxpayers’ money this was.
Jon Stanhope shrugged his shoulders at the $20 million plus that it cost us in making this very poor decision not to duplicate it immediately. We see that time and time again. We see it throughout the budget process. We see it in the attitude of the Chief Minister down. Losing $20 million, wasting $20 million, seems to be par for the course for this government as part of their ongoing approach to budgetary management.
Getting these things right is important. The people of Gungahlin, the people of west Belconnen, the people who use Gungahlin Drive, will now be waiting and will now be subject to a lot further disruption than they otherwise would have been and the taxpayer is forced to pay at least an extra $20 million simply because Jon Stanhope got it wrong. That is what this comes down to. Poor decision making has cost the taxpayer $20 million. Of course, we can speculate on what wonderful things could have been done in an infrastructure sense with that $20 million, whether it be in Gungahlin or in other parts of Canberra that sorely need it such as south Tuggeranong and west Belconnen.
This is just a snapshot of some of the issues in TAMS. If we had more time we could spend more time going into them. The fact that the government shrugs at wasting $20 million of taxpayers’ money is of serious concern to us.
Asset management planning is an important issue which is not being properly addressed by this government. It is an area of structural reform and structural change that needs to be addressed very urgently. If the government is not hearing this very clearly from industry then they need to listen. The delivery of our infrastructure and the maintenance of that infrastructure are critical to the wellbeing of Canberrans. The issue is critical to the growth of our city into the future. It is critical to the sustainability of our population base and also to our taxation and revenue base going forward.
These are critical issues. They are not the most exciting issues but we will continue to argue for the sensible reforms that we need. Hopefully in future we will see sensible decision making as opposed to the reckless decision making we have seen as epitomised, I think, by the absolute debacle that has been the Gungahlin Drive extension. (Time expired.)
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (9.39): I would like to speak to a number of specific areas that sit within the TAMS budget, primarily relating to the environmental part of TAMS. Firstly, on the kangaroo management plan, the Greens welcome the government releasing the kangaroo management plan and the funding that is being put towards its implementation. I note that there has been considerable interest in the management plan, the government having received 61 submissions. We look forward to seeing the final version, due at the end of this year. Ultimately, we must get to a stage where the ecological balance on a number of sites is restored, the grasslands are protected and the absolute minimum number of kangaroos are being
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