Page 4642 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
for 15 minutes to hear Mr Hargreaves say what they had done, how they had broadened the economic base, but there was not a mention.
We know what they did. In 2006 it was to kill the programs, cut the funding to business support in the main and do the same to tourism—kill the programs, cut the funding and drag tourism back into the bureaucracy where it is rattled from department to department, lacking leadership from its various ministers and lacking direction. That is a failure to diversify the local economy and to make it stronger. That is a failing of this government.
As to the lament of the lack of an economic base, what did Ms Gallagher say when she was asked about it in this place? She said: “You cannot wind yourself off federal spending. That is all we’ve got. That is all we are ever going to be.” Let me repeat it: “You just cannot wind yourself off the federal spending. That is all we’ve got. That is all we are ever going to be.”
So there is no commitment to diversifying the economic base. There is no commitment to a strong local economy. According to the Treasurer and the would-be Chief Minister, we just hang off the fence: as long as the fence keeps spending then we will be okay. That is your strategy for the future. If that is how you think we have a strong local economy then you are fooling yourself.
The Chief Minister said on 8 April in this place, “We have to acknowledge that economic diversity opportunities are limited.” The Treasurer said on 6 May 2009:
The ACT will have a large government sector for a long time to come.
She went on to say, about changing the proportion in any significant way of public sector and private sector, “I cannot do it; I am not even going to try.” That is the commitment to—
Ms Gallagher: Where’s that from?
MR SMYTH: From April last year. You should keep track of your words. That is the commitment in this place from the would-be Chief Minister. It is great that Mr Hargreaves brought forward the importance of a strong local economy to support local jobs. What the economy does not get from this government is the support that it needs, the attention that it deserves and the leadership that it craves.
Ms Gallagher: The strongest performing economy in the country.
MR SMYTH: The minister will get her chance. I am sure she will rattle off an endless set of statistics. They reflect very much the position that they were left and they reflect very much the fact that the ACT often outperforms the rest of the country. But the potential that we have here, what we could do in terms of securing the economic base and getting more revenue for the essential programs that we would all like to see—that is, spending on health, spending on education and on areas of need—is the question for this government.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video