Page 1405 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 24 March 2010

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(i) appointment of a $4.5 million fly-in fly-out razor gang to recommend spending cuts to ministers; and

(ii) need to make deeper cuts in the 2010-11 budget than would otherwise be necessary;

(e) the continued wastage of taxpayers’ funds on many projects and policies, including, but not limited to:

(i) at least $20 million wasted spending on the Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE) by failing to duplicate the GDE when it was first constructed;

(ii) hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on government advertising;

(iii) expensive public art at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) and along the GDE;

(iv) the wasted $5 million on the non-existent Belconnen to Civic busway;

(v) the blowout on the:

(A) Emergency Services Agency headquarters;

(B) cost of Tharwa Bridge; and

(C) capital and operating costs of the AMC;

(vi) $5 million wasted on FireLink, a communication facility which was never delivered;

(vii) the failure to manage the budget of the Department of Territory and Municipal Services, as outlined in the Ernst and Young report; and

(viii) the lack of control that the Treasurer has exercised over the ACT budget; and

(2) calls on the Treasurer to prioritise spending in the budget context to ensure that:

(a) core services provided by the government are protected; and

(b) vulnerable Canberrans do not pay the price of the Government’s fiscal ill-discipline over the last eight years.

I take much pleasure in moving this motion because, at the heart of the delivery of any service, the protection of the environment or the protection of where we live is, of course, the ability to pay for it. And, if you cannot pay for it, it is not going to happen unless you debt-fund it—and that has all sorts of implications for the future. This motion deals with some extremely important matters that are of concern to both this Assembly and to the Canberra community. I will set the environment for this motion and my colleagues will comment on the details of the various parts of the motion.

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