Page 1755 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 5 May 2010
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Mr Hanson: I will try more.
MS GALLAGHER: I am just drawing to the Assembly’s attention that he is living Mark Parton’s dream there. He is the wind-up kid, the wind-up doll.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Treasurer. The question.
MS GALLAGHER: Well, it is hard to respond here. It is hard to respond, Mr Speaker.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members!
MS GALLAGHER: A better way to have approached that, Mr Speaker, was perhaps to draw your attention to the constant interjecting, also known as wind-up doll-like, that Mr Hanson is doing.
Mr Coe: You’re a bit precious about the cartoon, aren’t you?
MS GALLAGHER: Alistair, you live for the day you are made into a cartoon, my friend. It will happen. It will happen. Don’t worry. It will come and we will all enjoy it.
Mr Coe interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Coe! Treasurer, let’s hear about the budget.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have had a range of feedback today and throughout the day. I acknowledge that some of that has been positive and some of it has been negative. I think that goes exactly to the point that I have been making over the last days—that not everybody gets everything in a budget. Sometimes it is about taking half a step forward if you cannot take the whole step. And that is the environment in which we put this budget together.
Even those who have negatives with the budget are also drawing our attention to the positives. For example, the Property Council, while they do not like the change of use charge, although they have again indicated their willingness to engage with us on that in a very positive way over the next few months, have also acknowledged the positives in the budget, around land release particularly. Indeed, another one—a favourite of the Liberals—the Canberra Business Council, are supporting our vision for the future in our spend on the arboretum; again, a positive in the budget.
Opposition members interjecting—
MS GALLAGHER: The chamber of commerce, again, encouraged us to hand down a business as usual budget and they feel quite positive about the budget that we have put together.
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