Page 1145 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
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Mr Coe interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Coe, order, please!
MS GALLAGHER: It is about all of those things, Madam Speaker. The government has some very clear plans and priorities that we are working through. We are entering a time, I think, of some uncertainty for the city. I think last week’s release of the Commission of Audit report probably set the environment for the decisions that will be handed down next week. Then those priorities, and protecting those priorities and making sure we can afford the priorities of Canberrans, become even more important against a backdrop of reduced spending in this city.
This government will continue on the path that we are heading down. We have sought the support of the Canberra community for that agenda. We were endorsed to proceed with that agenda and we intend to do that. We are delivering on our election commitments that we made to the people of the ACT. We are doing that in a fairly tough fiscal environment, not just within our own budget but within the broader context of the ACT economy. But we believe that with appropriate staging and appropriate management those commitments can be delivered upon.
At the same time, we are busy out there promoting Canberra, talking Canberra up. I have been doing some work with overseas investors, as has Minister Barr, the Deputy Chief Minister, to talk up the credentials of our city. I must say that it would help if we had a unified voice on some of those approaches rather than talking down the economy and talking down the plans for Canberra. Surely there are some projects within our agenda that cross over with some of the priorities of the opposition. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could identify what those were?
Instead, we get speeches largely containing motherhood statements—“We will do this; we will do that”—without any actual plan or idea. Everyone can stand up and give motherhood statements about liking to see this and that. It becomes much harder when you actually have to articulate what you would do, how much you would spend, where you would find that funding, where else you could cut, how you balance up those priorities. But we never ever hear that part of the discussion.
I call on the opposition today. Of all the work we are doing around Canberra—the city plan, capital metro, the university public hospital, digital Canberra, the business diversification strategy, invest Canberra—surely there is one that you think might be good for the city, that you might be able to support and that you might be able to show a unified voice on.
What about NDIS? Is that something you support? What about better funding for schools going into the budget, delivering on our commitments under the NERA arrangement? Do you support that? There is much more funding for independent schools, for Catholic schools. Do you support that? But we never ever hear about the things that you do think are worth while pursuing over the next few years because you are not going to be in government for two years. It is going to be a minimum of two years. No-one can actually see a time when you will be in government but for the next two years the people of the ACT have voted and you are not in government.
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