Page 1383 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 24 March 2010
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MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Porter?
MS PORTER: Minister, can you further inform the Assembly how this investment compares with investments made by previous territory governments in essential municipal infrastructure?
Mrs Dunne: Including your own.
MR STANHOPE: I am more than happy to do that. Indeed, as Mrs Dunne encourages, including our own. It is a fact that just over these last few years—indeed, I think in each of the last three years—it is probably fair to say that the total investment in community infrastructure or infrastructure for the community for each of the last three years exceeds the total of seven years of investment by the Liberal Party in government during their term. In other words, we have invested more in infrastructure in this city in just the last year than the Liberal Party managed to achieve in two terms of government. Those are bare facts.
The numbers, of course, in relation to that are interesting and are a reflection, too, that in two terms of government over seven years the Liberal Party never managed to produce a single surplus budget. That was the great difficulty they had. The double whammy was they had seven straight deficits in government—seven in a row, deficit, deficit, deficit, deficit—and, of course, as a result of that, they averaged in their infrastructure spend an average of $70 million a year over seven years. That was their average capital spend. That is a reflection of the fact that they could not manage a chook raffle in a pub on a Saturday afternoon. Seven consecutive deficits. Could not run a chook raffle in a pub on a Saturday afternoon. Seven successive deficits. Seven years of average capital investment of $70 million.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR STANHOPE: Name one significant piece of infrastructure delivered by the Liberals in seven years. The Bruce Stadium upgrade. The illegal, late and over-costed futsal slab. Where do you go after you get past the Liberal Party’s legacy of infrastructure in this town? It does not exist.
MS LE COUTEUR: Supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Le Couteur.
MS LE COUTEUR: Mr Stanhope, given that the government is planning to spend more, clearly, from what you said, on cycle infrastructure, will you commit to, when you are upgrading on-road cycling, not having the situation of the disappearing cycle path? It is really disturbing when it just disappears.
MR STANHOPE: We do our best in relation to our capacity to upgrade and maintain seamless cycle paths. But of course one of the great disabilities we have is that we are retrofitting roads that were ignored for seven years by the Liberal Party in government. You have to take account of the fact that ideologically and philosophically the
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