Page 1803 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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estimates ago, Chris Faulks, the CEO of the Canberra Business Council, said it was easier to work with the US Department of Defence than it was to work with the ACT government on business. That is a pretty damning indictment. She spoke of the perfect storm for business in the ACT. The US Department of Defence is not renowned around the world for the ease with which you can work with it.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We have waited three years for this strategy—three years of neglect and three years of lost opportunities—and we still have to wait a little bit longer. We have to wait for the budget to see whether or not the government’s initiatives will actually match what was proposed back in 2001. If it does, we would welcome that. But it will be interesting to see if they have got the nerve to do it.
We wait to see the Quinlan tax review, because some of the biggest impediments on business are the taxes they pay. I was keeping the example, but Ms Le Couteur got there first, in regard to red tape. When you have got red tape that says that a business must give you a document that shows what sort of chairs you have in your outdoor cafe, you have lost the plot. This government have lost the plot on red tape. They have made it impossible for business because it is now so onerous.
We have even got the Folk Festival saying they thought the compliance burden with the government’s new regulations cost them something like $200,000. This is a not-for-profit group that fosters Australian culture in what is a particularly quiet time in the ACT. It brings thousands of people to the ACT and provides enormous entertainment value to the people of Canberra, but it is being burdened by something like $200,000 worth of compliance because of ACT government regulations. That is the most succinct summary when you talk about what this government has done. They take a not-for-profit event—a great event that has been here for 25 years, maybe it is 25 next year—which is now feeling the economic pinch so badly that it claims this enormous burden has been put on it by the government.
The amendment is easy to support. We all want a clean economy, green business—we call them environmental businesses—and exporting sustainability. What we need is the detail, but I suspect you will never get detail of that sort from this minister or this government.
Ms Le Couteur’s amendment agreed to.
Debate interrupted in accordance with standing order 74 and the resumption of the debate made an order of the day for a later hour.
Sitting suspended from 12.33 to 2 pm.
Questions without notice
Canberra Hospital—emergency department data
MR SESELJA: My question is to the Minister for Health. The Auditor-General’s report on waiting lists for elective surgery and medical treatment 2011 states:
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