Page 3377 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 18 September 2013
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MR BARR: Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. I think it would be clear that Mr Hockey is not a member of this place nor is he a member of the judiciary. And I was indicating that I did not believe he was lying on 5 September. I take him at his word, that he is making a $42 million saving and cutting $42 million worth of funding from NICTA, an organisation that is valuable to this economy.
It is a further example of the approach of the incoming federal government to this city. And it is not just in the public sector now that they are wielding the axe. It is now into the private sector and into an organisation that it would appear there is tripartisan support for in this chamber. People have been on the public record on a number of occasions seeking to prosecute a particular case in support of NICTA, most recently, only in the last few months, from the shadow treasurer. And now, when we have got this issue before us—we are debating it today, and we are calling for a bipartisan approach—we get absolutely nothing from the opposition, absolute silence from the shadow treasurer on an issue that was so important that he had to ask me in question time about another government’s funding.
But when it comes to opposing the position of the incoming federal government, there is silence, absolute silence from the shadow treasurer. There was no contribution to this debate from anyone else from the Liberal Party. There was plenty of opportunity to speak on it. Hopefully we might have just goaded the Leader of the Opposition into responding, into putting a position on the public record.
We are very keen to put positions on the public record today, are we not? We have had a few speeches from a few people opposite this morning about having a position and being prepared to state it. Here is your chance. What is your position on NICTA funding? Do you support the federal government’s position to cut $42 million from NICTA? Do you think that is a good thing for this economy? Do you think it is a good thing for the ICT sector? They are the challenges that are out there. That is the opportunity. We have been debating this for a couple of hours now and there has been no contribution on that point.
We hope, through this amendment, that we might get the Leader of the Opposition or the shadow treasurer to make a comment on a matter that is of significant importance to this economy, which we all appeared to be in agreement on a few hours ago. Even you, in your contribution, Mr Assistant Speaker, recognised it and said it on a couple of occasions but you would not make any negative comment in relation to the funding cut. The Liberals were prepared to have a go, through your shadow treasurer, when there was an erratum in the last budget but when the funding was announced—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Barr, are you addressing the actual amendment as well?
MR BARR: I am. I am addressing the amendment. When the funding was announced, there was silence, no recognition that the commonwealth government was providing ongoing funding. That deed was signed. NICTA had that funding. Now it is going to be taken off them by the incoming federal Liberal government and, again, we have got silence from those opposite. So here is your chance. You have got, in a couple of minutes time—
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