Page 217 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014
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In relation to Mr Smyth’s calls for the government to illustrate the financial breakdown of elements contributing to points (i) to (iv), I direct him to pages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 and pages 42 and 45 of the budget review, which provide the answers, in detail, to all of the issues that he has raised in the second part of his motion. It is important to note that, whilst Mr Smyth always likes to call on the government to do something, it is a bit of an embarrassment to him when we have already done it in the report that he refers to in the first part of his motion. Go to pages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 42 and 45; you will see the details there, Mr Smyth.
Finally, I should not let pass the opportunity to respond to the verballing that I have received from Mr Smyth in relation to the ABC radio interview that he referred to in his comments. I have observed on more than one occasion that, as the ACT is two per cent of the Australian economy and Australia is two per cent of the world economy, in order for this economy to grow we have to have a national and international focus. There simply is not the private investment capacity within this city of 385,000 people to meet future infrastructure needs. We have to seek investment from elsewhere. We do, and we will continue to. My comments were in relation to the capacity of the ACT private sector. We cannot finance all that we need to just locally; it has got to be sourced nationally and internationally. That is the government’s focus.
It would take about a million rum bars, Mr Smyth, to fill the gap that the commonwealth government is going to leave in this economy. We need more than just one small bar in Kingston, as worthy as it is. (Time expired.)
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (5.14): I am just thinking about Canberra with a million rum bars spread across the city and what kind of city we might degenerate into if that were the case. I know Mr Smyth would enjoy it, but I think we would probably find it a little bit excessive.
Mr Smyth: No; I do not drink rum.
MR RATTENBURY: Of course; sorry. Mr Smyth is a whiskey man, of course.
Turning to the matter at hand now that I have got rid of that mental image, I acknowledge Mr Smyth’s motion. Obviously the ACT budget is very important and one that does warrant debate in this place. I intend to speak very briefly today. Mr Smyth has put up the political discussion that he wanted to put and raised a number of questions in his motion. Mr Barr has gone to the answers to a number of those questions in his remarks and in pointing out the pages in the budget update where the information that Mr Smyth has sought in part (2) of his motion can be found. To that end, I will be supporting Mr Barr’s amendment.
Mr Barr: I circulated it, but I forgot to move it. I will need to seek leave to do that once you have finished.
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