Page 1792 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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Party, says I said and I would not believe it, of course, in a fit. I am absolutely certain that at no stage did I say we were moving front-line services to Gungahlin. I do recall Mr Seselja in great bemusement expressing concern that we move our front-line services into a government office within Gungahlin.
Mr Hanson: You’re a dud, Jon.
MR STANHOPE: What I said—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister, one moment, thank you. Stop the clocks. Mr Hanson, I would invite you to withdraw the unparliamentarily language.
Mr Hanson: I withdraw the comment made about Mr Stanhope that he is a dud. I withdraw, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you. Chief Minister.
MR STANHOPE: No, it has never been the government’s intention—and it turns again on your definitions. All of our public servants are vital to the performance of the ACT public service. Everybody has a very significant and important role to play and they are equally important. But in the context of front-line service delivery, which requires, for instance, face-to-face contact with a client group, it would not, of course, be our intention that those located in Gungahlin would be taken from a location where they deal directly in the delivery of what we know broadly as front-line, direct service delivery—of course not. I never said that and I never suggested that that was our intention. In fact, what I have said is that they will be public servants who will be identified as not being necessarily advantaged—or the service being advantaged generally—by their co-location in a government office block in Civic.
Budget—assessment
MR HARGREAVES: My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, the 2011-12 ACT budget has been described as modest, measured, targeted, fair, fiscally responsible and disciplined. Some have even described it as a beige budget. Treasurer, what is your response to this assessment of the budget?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Mr Hargreaves for the question. Overall, the government is very pleased with the responses that we have received so far to the ACT budget for this financial year. Many of the commentators are calling it a measured and sensible budget, a responsible budget. They are all descriptions that we on this side would tend to agree with. We have had a very difficult budget cabinet process as we have weighed up the expenditure requirements that our community are expecting with the ability to recover our budget.
Opposition members interjecting—
MS GALLAGHER: I hear those opposite continuing to interject. It appears that if I am on my feet then that is the green light for all six of them to start chirping. The increase in revenue that we are expecting this year is in the order of, I think, $192 million, as Mr Smyth pointed out. If you look in the future years, from that there
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