Page 2854 - Week 07 - Thursday, 7 June 2012
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by legislation or taxation. We value the rule of law, applied fairly and equally. We value the right of individuals to make choices for themselves, not making illegal everything from shopping bags to puppy sales in an attempt to promote a minority view of justice.
We value the importance of making wise spending choices, knowing it is not our money, it is the people’s money, and when they entrust it to us we must treat it with the greatest care. We value the importance of hard work, the dignity of a job and the pride of achievement that comes from accomplishing your own goals. We value endeavour and enterprise, and will not punish those who seek to achieve something better. And we value family. Family is the cornerstone of a better society. We will never sit by while the majority of families are attacked, no matter from which quarter.
And we value the responsibility of a government, in particular local governments, to keep the cost of living down. Under this government, the cost of living has always gone up and will always go up. Under a Canberra Liberals government costs will be lower, and they will always be lower. That is what the people of Canberra can expect from a Canberra Liberals government. That is the choice people will face this year.
The same old government which for 11 years has put prices up, driven services down and delivered giant deficits—or change to a government focused on basic local services and lower cost of living? This year, we will be asking Canberrans to vote for change.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (3.08): There are broadly two tales to tell in this budget, one of real progress in the way we will generate our revenue and the other of continued reticence to take the necessary steps forward in the way we use our expenditure to generate better long-term outcomes.
On the revenue side the government has made some very proactive decisions to challenge the status quo, undertake significant reform, and ultimately put Canberra in a better position. They have taken a long-term view and commenced a very significant reform that the Greens support.
Unfortunately, on the other side of the ledger, many expenditure decisions lack real initiative and favour the status quo and business as usual when there was a real opportunity to do so much more. There is still no strong vision for how we can make this city a better place to live, just enough to tick the essential boxes.
There is a stereotype that many see when they look at Canberra. Canberrans themselves know that the “dull, wealthy, public service town” image is not the reality. Business, tourism and arts all continue to flourish in the capital, but the fact is that this town was built for government and the commonwealth remains the biggest employer and the maker or breaker of our local economy.
If the US sneezing gives the world a cold, the commonwealth government even just twitching gives Canberra pneumonia. Whether or not that impact is felt directly by the Canberra families who lose their jobs in the Australian public service, or indirectly for
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