Page 1587 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
It is costing us $477 for a prisoner held in that jail. It was $163 when we sent them to New South Wales. We were promised it would cost us no more than that, and it is costing us double that. I think that if we were getting the world’s best jail we might be prepared to pay such an extravagant sum, but if we reflect on the report that was tabled by the Treasurer and health minister just previously, what is quite abundantly clear is that we are getting anything but a world-class jail—champagne prices with what is very much a beer result.
This is just simply the tip of the iceberg. I could go on with some examples of wasteful and inefficient spending. The GDE, because they did not build it with two lanes initially, has cost us, I think, an extra $20 million. The dam, if you recall—and this is a matter close to your heart, Madam Assistant Speaker Dunne—was meant to cost taxpayers $145 million, and it has blown out by 150 per cent. So we are going to be spending an extra $220 a year on the cost of water security in the ACT by 2013.
I drove past the arboretum today with members of my family, including my aunt, Christine, who is visiting from the UK. We looked at it and I said, “There’s the arboretum.” I am sure it will be a lovely arboretum when it is completed, but the discussion we had was that, given the state of our health system, given the state of other aspects of this territory, it is an indulgence. It is a champagne product and we simply cannot afford it here in the ACT, as lovely as it may be.
Similarly, there is the roadside art, Madam Assistant Speaker. While we are in deficit and have no contingency for flood or famine, or simply a downturn—the federal government is cutting into its budget for the ACT, with the effect that is going to have on us—it is an indulgence. We can see that this is not atypical of this government. I note Mr Hargreaves is up the back talking to Ms Burch. We can reflect perhaps on the Multicultural Festival and what a debacle all that was. It was a seven-day festival but, because of Mr Hargreaves’s inability to manage the budget for that, it is now a three-day festival.
Ms Burch interjecting—
MR HANSON: We see that the consequence of their inability to actually manage their budgets and have fiscal discipline is that things will get cut. I think that the Multicultural Festival is a classic example. But we know that it is a taste of things to come; more will be coming. We know that the Greens and Labor have called for a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. That is an extravagance we cannot afford. The consequence of that is going to be enormous.
Members interjecting—
MR HANSON: How about the Greens? Ms Hunter is having a bit of a snicker over there. Remember in the GLA they wanted $1 billion spent on housing?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Order, members! There is too much conversation.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video