Page 987 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 17 March 2010
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across the whole range of portfolios. We have competing priorities and we seek to meet those priorities, be fair to everyone and create the environment where the business community can flourish.
I think that has certainly been the effort that this government has put in. I will look closely at that survey, but it certainly is not supported by all the economic indicators that have been released over the past 12 months or, indeed, supported by the representations that I am getting from industry.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Smyth?
MR SMYTH: Treasurer, the index also shows that business confidence is overwhelmingly positive, with a net balance of positive 68. Why is business so positive about the economy yet so negative about your government and your budget?
MS GALLAGHER: I would imagine, in light of the budget situation that the ACT government is in, that there would be some apprehension from business. We have a number of years of difficulty ahead of us in terms of how we recover our budget from the global financial crisis. It is no secret that there are deficits and that we have a savings strategy in place, and I imagine some of that would concern business. But we are doing what we can to support our economy and, by doing that, we are supporting business.
As I said, I think the efforts of this government over the last 12 months have actually been applauded by business and industry in actually supporting them and letting them maintain their employment levels to a point where now the skills shortage is actually the biggest challenge facing businesses across the ACT. That has been directly as a result of the decisions that this government took not to slash and burn our budget but to invest in our economy, support business and support the work that is done in the community sector as we move slowly to recover our budget over a seven-year plan.
I had a meeting with industry, with business groups, on Monday, and they were unanimously supportive of the government’s strategy to recover the budget in the longer term and to maintain our investment in this community. I think that is where I will take the advice from—industry leaders telling me what is happening on the ground, analysing our budget plan, giving us feedback on that and giving us feedback about what they would like to see in the next budget. That is the advice I will be taking; not advice from Mr Smyth, who only loves news when it is bad news.
MR HARGREAVES: A supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. Isn’t it true that successive budgets over the last couple of years have been tough and difficult budgets, yet still we see a forest of cranes across the skyline, still we see a skills shortage, and still we see maximum profits being made across the town? Isn’t it a truth that the selection of one or two statistics out of one small survey is not a true indication of the economic health of the territory?
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