Page 2290 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 22 June 2011
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the government have put them up. But we are told today by the Chief Minister that actually they have not put them up.
I do not know what accounts for the anomaly. I do not know why the people of Banks are paying an extra $778 compared to what they were paying in 2001-02. The people of Conder are paying an extra $594 and the people of Gordon are paying an extra $641. Clearly, that is a ridiculous statement by the Chief Minister. This government has a reason it has had to get so much raising revenue and look for new ways of revenue with things like change of use increases or massive increases in rates. It is because it cannot control its spending. There is no doubt about it.
Finally, in the one minute that I have left, the minister again points to success being when you spend money on something. Let us just look at some of the measures. Let us look at some of the measures of this government’s success. Are the basics of life more or less expensive under this government? Have they been successful in housing affordability? No, they have not.
Where have we gone in health? We used to have average waiting times. Now we have the longest waiting times in the country. We have seen the management of the prison falling apart. We have seen some of the most basic services such as local roads and ovals not delivered. We have seen the GDE take a decade and still not be complete. There is a performance appraisal. People are not getting 75 per cent better services and better infrastructure.
Let me finish on this point: this is a government that is out of touch. This is a minister, Katy Gallagher, who is completely out of touch, and she has demonstrated that with her contribution today.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (4.01): We did, of course, debate a very similar motion last year that even included the same statistics or permutations of them that Mr Seselja is asking the Assembly to note today. So it appears to be honest and accountable government and the cost of living that are obviously some recyclable products here. On that day the motion was amended and passed—
Mrs Dunne: And they’re not important to you? You don’t care?
MS HUNTER: Of course they are important to me, very important to me, and I will speak to that today and give you some information on what we are doing as far as these issues are concerned.
But on that day the motion was amended and passed. It called on the ACT government to consider carefully the cost of living in the ACT and include, where possible, initiatives to put downward pressure on the cost of living to ensure the affordable housing action plan provides for those households that are not eligible for public housing and cannot afford the median rental or even 74.9 per cent of the market rate, to acknowledge that the running costs such as energy and water must be included in assessing the affordability of a house, and to conduct a poverty impact analysis of significant new policies and programs. They were the amendments that were made to the last one.
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