Page 3493 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011
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The minister mentioned that consumer confidence declined, and that is indeed true. But on the other side, we have actually seen Australian consumers now saving far more in recent years. I think that is an acknowledgement of how people do see the economy. You have to reflect particularly on the recent falls in retail sales in the ACT. But it is patchy. Some people are talking about a two-speed economy; others are speaking about three or four, or a patchwork economy. Depending on what sector you are in, in the retail market, for instance, it really does affect your view of the world.
I note this morning that an article in the Canberra Times makes comment about the quarterly financials that were delivered earlier in the week, and one statement by the minister does stand out: “Overall taxation revenue also performed marginally less than expectations.” I think we need to be very careful here, because if you look at page 5 of the consolidated financials, it is actually $192 million up on the budget. From the minister’s own chart, the 2010-11 annual budget was $3.667 billion of total revenue. The actual outcome was $3.860 billion, or $192 million more than was expected against the budget.
We all like the way the minister for spin operates here. The minister very skilfully has just gone to the revised estimated outcome. And, yes, on that it is down some $13 million. But the reality is that, across the year, across the budget that this place approved, we are actually up $192 million. That is another $192 million out of the taxpayers’ pockets. That is another $192 million of revenue that this government has managed to spend.
So I think we need to be very careful when we say that it is a little bit less than expectation. It is about five per cent more than what was budgeted for. It would have been better had the minister been more total in his statement to the Canberra Times. Instead of saying, “Gloom, it’s a little bit less.” It actually has come in much stronger. What we have seen is a five per cent increase. The Canberra Liberals have been arguing in this place that this government is putting increased pressure on the Canberra community against increased cost of living charges, and $192 million, I suspect, confirms that.
The minister also spoke about the superannuation account liabilities. And he is quite right: there are concerns about the returns and the volatility in the market. But I am more concerned about some of the numbers that are being presented. I would urge the minister to look at some of the numbers that have been tabled, perhaps over the last 12 months, and some of the conflict in those numbers.
If you monitor the accounts—and they are indeed updated, and they are on page 11 of the quarterlies that were tabled—you can see that for the last five quarters at least, we have had greater than $4½ billion worth of superannuation liabilities. Of course, that will be affected if the markets move in either direction. I would like to refer to a summary that my officers made of some of the data that the government has put out, and some of the conflict that we have in the numbers.
The budget document this year said that our liabilities would be $4.3 billion; therefore the proportion funded is 53 per cent. But this consolidated financial report says that our liabilities are now $4.8 billion, which means we are only covered to the degree of
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