Page 5881 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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testing some of those, and that is appropriate as well given the circumstances. It is far better that there is some effort made in that space than in cutting jobs for Canberrans, which is the easy political call at a national level. We see Joe Hockey do it: “12,000 Canberra jobs”, on top of what has been announced. When it comes to making those decisions and throwing around those statements there is undoubtedly a contrast.
Even the Leader of the Opposition, in a quiet and reflective moment, might acknowledge that there is a difference between what has been put forward in this midyear update and what the shadow treasurer has proposed, because he has even written to the federal Leader of the Opposition and indicated that he opposes that. You are already on the record as saying you oppose what your federal leader is doing, so you should not have a problem acknowledging that.
Mr Smyth: I do. So have you written and—
MR BARR: Indeed, and we have made those representations.
Mr Smyth: So you will be supporting the motion.
MR BARR: I am not supporting a motion that contains factual inaccuracies. If you are prepared to remove a number of elements of this motion, it may be possible to find something that we agree on, Mr Smyth. But, given your mood and your backchat to me across the chamber right now, I do not think you have an intention of compromising on this particular issue.
Mr Smyth interjecting—
MR BARR: If you were to remove a number of statements from this motion, we might be able to find something we agree on.
I see Ms Hunter has put forward and is circulating an amendment that appears to be a pox on both our houses. Ms Hunter, I congratulate you for joining me in this most robust of political debates this evening. I should foreshadow that I do not think the government will find its way clear to support your amendment either, so this could end up being quite a circular argument in the end.
To recap, yes, we recognise the importance of the commonwealth government achieving a budget surplus. We are particularly appreciative of the fact that that has allowed the RBA to make two cuts to interest rates. That, I think we would all agree, has a positive impact on the Canberra economy, because we have a larger than Australian average mortgage belt and we have a retail sector that could certainly do with this boost coming into Christmas. Is anyone going to disagree with that statement? No. I will take silence as an agreement that those two are important reflections upon where the territory economy will be going through 2012.
Mr Hanson: Mr Speaker—
MR SPEAKER: Yes. Stop the clock, thank you.
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