Page 2842 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 August 2013
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One of the key concerns this morning is that the budget is not up to date, that it does not contain all of the information. I think that the budget does contain a very large amount of information. I think both the Labor Party and the Greens, as part of the executive, have made very clear the intent and the direction of the budget, and there is considerable detail in there. Mr Smyth has specifically raised concerns about the ICRC in his motion. I think that the Treasurer has addressed that point very effectively, particularly in the context of the quantity involved in the overall percentage of the budget. This is obviously an issue that the government needs to monitor, but there is of course a series of moving parts in the budget that will mean that it is always evolving.
We have seen that again with the release of federal figures both 10 days ago and again with PEFO today. There are a series of external factors that will continue to shape the ACT budget and that the government must monitor and respond to as they arise. That is the responsibility of the government, to take those things into account. I think that the government has been very clear in its fiscal strategy. Certainly, as the representative of the Greens in that government, I have been very clear about the Greens’ position. I both support the intended return to budget balance and budget surplus in the timetable set out in the budget.
The Greens’ position at a macro level—the fiscal strategy—is also very clear. We do need to have a balanced budget over the economic cycle. The government is in a phase now where there has been a deficit run, but there is a clear intent to return that to a budget surplus over time. We need that for simple sustainability. That is a clear position. That is a clear intent of the government. Whilst there will be adjustments along the way, whilst the budget will change and evolve—some figures will go up, some figures will go down—that commitment is very clear in the budget papers, and I think that that is something that the Canberra community can have confidence in.
Turning to the comments about light rail, again this has been discussed at some length previously. I discussed it last week in the context of Mr Smyth’s motion last Wednesday on private members’ day about the budget when he again raised this point. I think members will recall that in February this year the Assembly passed a motion committing to transparency on light rail, to releasing the documents either that are available or as they become available. That is something that I stand very strongly by. I think it is important that the community does have that information.
It may be that Mr Coe disagrees with the light rail project and that is his prerogative. But that does not mean that the fact the information is out there is not valid. There is plenty of information out there. In the discussion last week, in response to Mr Smyth’s motion, I reeled off a series of documents that the Greens have used to form our view and to form our position on light rail. Of course, this is a project that has still got work going on on it. There is a detailed costing that is available. It sets out a quite considerable level of information. Mr Coe and his colleagues are free to go through that at any time. Perhaps they will at some point.
I think the comments about Infrastructure Australia are very interesting. I note that Infrastructure Australia—I paraphrase slightly—has said that light rail was not a
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