Page 1600 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
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territory’s finances are being looked after. It provides confidence that financial risks are being identified and managed and that debt is manageable.
Standard & Poor’s have indicated that the ACT government’s management is a very positive rating factor. They have given considerable weight to the government’s response to the global economic slowdown and the decisions taken in 2009. In confirming the territory’s credit rating, Standard & Poor’s noted:
The ACT government’s management is a very positive rating factor. In 2009, in response to the economic slowdown and resulting drop in revenue, the ACT revised its fiscal strategy, with a primary focus on returning the territory’s operating position to balance by fiscal 2016. Improving revenue expectations have seen the return to surplus timeline revised to fiscal 2014.
Unlike the previous Liberal government, which delivered major deficits in four consecutive years and neglected services to the most vulnerable in our community at the same time, we have a plan to restore our budget. We have improved the level of services in many important sectors, including disability services, mental health services, child protection services and public hospital beds, to name a few of the issues that we have inherited from the previous government.
This government has committed to and delivered the largest program of infrastructure investment across the territory since self-government, a program that we continue to deliver, and this investment will build a hospital system to meet the needs of the next decade, improve our transport system and urban amenities, assist in responding to climate change and meet the needs of a growing city.
We all know that delivering a capital program is not about spending dollars; it is about delivering projects. The list of projects that this government has successfully delivered is long. These include health facilities, roads, schools, family and community centres, public and social housing, parks and other water infrastructure projects. Such is the confidence in this city that we have a forest of cranes on the skyline, something that was hitherto unknown before this government took over.
This government continues to work to reduce wastage of the community and taxpayers’ funds, like aeroplanes with things blazoned on them, green grass on sporting fields—those sorts of things. Any savings under our plan are redirected to front-line services that benefit the citizens of the ACT. Investments in hospital beds, teachers, police, roads, buses and the prison are not a waste of public money but an example of responsible financial management; nor are our record investments in disability services, health, education and child protection. The government was able to provide additional funding to these important areas because of the efficiencies made to its overall operations. It is extraordinary that providing more funding to address critical service delivery is seen to demonstrate a lack of fiscal discipline.
Towards the aims of our budget plan we readjusted our spending and achieved savings. However, sharp adjustments were not made and we maintained our investments in vital community services and infrastructure and supported business confidence, a fiscal strategy also employed by the commonwealth and most other Australian jurisdictions.
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