Page 3682 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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12 years, when you look at what this government has done, this is a government that is not delivering to the community. This is a government that increasingly has its priorities out of touch. This motion today, compared to the motions of the Liberal Party, is a clear example of that. And it is a government that is increasingly evasive and loose with the truth.
I have circulated amendments which I will be moving which improve this motion and give a much clearer and more concise explanation of this government’s performance. Interestingly, on Monday, I think, Ms Gallagher and I were asked to go onto the Ross Solly ABC program and talk about the year and what had happened. When the Chief Minister was asked, “What are your highlights over the last year,” the Chief Minister basically said: “I am not really sure. Probably NDIS and Gonski.” Mr Solly rightly then said: “Hang on. Aren’t they federal government initiatives?” And yes, they are.
It is illustrative that off the top of her head the Chief Minister could only think of things which were actually driven by the federal government, in particular, in one case, Gonski. When you compare what was in the budget of last year to what is in the budget of this year and you look at what federal funding was promised compared to the promise under Gonski, there is $30 million less. If that is the government’s achievement, negotiating themselves out of $30 million, that is not something that really is such a highlight.
Let us have a look at some of the projects that are coming to fruition as we see that this government stumbles along. There is the dam, which is now going to be, and I welcome it, the subject of an Auditor-General’s review. This is the dam that this government in 2008 said would cost $145 million. The government went to an election and had ACTEW do a whole bunch of TV advertising costing about $40,000 to say, “Yes, we are building the dam.” Then, when it is delivered, it is extraordinarily over budget and late. The $409 million price tag, compared to what we were promised, $145 million, is disgraceful, and I look forward to the Auditor-General’s review.
We also have the jail that was the subject of a ministerial statement by Mr Rattenbury yesterday—the jail that was promised to have 374 beds at a cost of $110 million. We know that it was delivered with 300 beds, at a cost of $130 million, but it has since been retrofitted at a cost of many millions of dollars and is now the subject of review. How many more tens of millions of dollars are going to need to be spent to build the capacity in this jail that was required? The government was provided with a report, was provided with advice, that said, “You will need a jail that is at least 374.” This government cut its cloth so that it could open it before an election, so that it could bring it in only $20 million over budget. The consequence of that is that that jail is now a very difficult place for the staff who work in there. I would like to highlight to members that even this morning I got an email from someone saying that there has been an assault in that jail and there is a real problem because of overcrowding—just today. And that is of the government’s making.
As Dr Bourke and others pat themselves on the back, I suggest they go out to that jail and ask themselves the question “How did we stuff this up so badly?” The truth is that they stuffed it up because they cut the size of the jail and then lied to the community about whether this would have capacity or not—because clearly it does not.
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