Page 1383 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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(3) Add new paragraph (4):
“(4) calls on the Federal Government to:
(a) to at least match on a dollar-for-dollar basis the funds committed by the ACT Government to programs planned for the Centenary celebrations in 2013; and
(b) to restore funding to the National Capital Authority to enable this agency to contribute effectively to the Centenary celebrations in 2013.”.
(4) Add new paragraph (5):
“(5) calls on the Speaker to write to the Federal Government on behalf of the ACT Legislative Assembly advising of the terms of this motion.”.
It is important, I think, to tweak the motion slightly to encompass what is said both in the Prime Minister’s speech and in the intergovernment agreement. Basically what my amendments will do is insert a new subparagraph (a) so that the leading thing that this Assembly notes is:
… the national significance of celebrating the foundation of the centenary of Australia’s capital city;”.
I think that needs to be up front. The current (a) to (e) are renamed (b) to (f) and then I want to insert two further paragraphs that we note, firstly:
… the failure of the Federal Government to match on a dollar-for-dollar basis the funds committed by the ACT Government to programs planned for the Centenary celebrations in 2013;”.
The minister, I am sure, can enlighten us but I think the government has put in about $20 million and the federal government is matching that with about $6 million just for the programs. Subparagraph (h) goes on to note:
… the Federal Government’s commitment of $20 million in capital funding for the Arboretum.”.
It is interesting, though, that a lot of people had hoped we might get some money for a convention centre. I see the federal government has actually committed $47 million for a state-of-the-art entertainment stadium and convention centre for Townsville. I am not sure whether the minister is aware of that, but Townsville obviously rates a lot higher in the scheme of things than the nation’s capital does. So what this does is say that, first and foremost, this is a national event, that this should be funded as a national event by the federal government, with matching funding from the ACT as appropriate, and that, of course, we have got some money for the arboretum.
What I want to do then is add a new part (4). Part (1) of the motion sets out a few items, part (2) calls on people to work with the government, part (3) says “supports all budget measures”—and I note, Mr Speaker, you have an amendment to that—but
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