Page 1149 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
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how did this survey company get individuals’ names, such as mine? How was it that I was selected? Was it appropriate for a Sydney company working on behalf of the ACT government to be mailing out scratchie tickets to Canberrans? They are very serious questions, and I hope Mr Rattenbury and the Chief Minister respond to this concern. It is a real concern when the ACT government is, in effect, funding scratchie tickets, lottery tickets, to be mailed to Canberrans. There is a real concern with that, and it is not something I think represents the best of this Legislative Assembly.
As to planning, the planning system in the ACT is dysfunctional. It is fascinating to go through Mr Corbell’s comments from 1998, 1999 and 2000 when he was a community activist, a passionate advocate for the community for local issues. It is funny the Chief Minister should say that we should not be talking about local issues in effect. What we had in 1998, 1999 and 2000 was Mr Corbell trying to be the local activist. He was saying, “We need to empower locals. We need to empower the community to make decisions.” Well, what is he doing now? He is going over the heads of every one of the constituents he supposedly represents.
With regard to planning we have seen real concerns with DV306. We see shifting goal posts all the time. We see preference to interstate or even international companies rather than our local ones. We see the government trying to ram through this place the project facilitation bill. We see an inability for builders in Canberra to secure land. We see rates skyrocketing out of control. We see extension of time fees contrary to the stated intentions of this government. We see a lease variation charge which puts a tax on density, the very thing the government say they are trying to achieve.
This government has put in place so many counterintuitive policies that are hurting Canberrans, the people who are subsidising this rabble across the chamber. It is not acceptable for the government to continue to spend the $4.5 billion territory budget in the way it is. There comes a point when the government needs to genuinely be responsive, consultative and reflect the will of the people it is supposedly representing. I commend Mr Hanson’s motion to the Assembly. I think it describes very clearly what the priorities of this place should be, and I urge all members to support it.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (10.41): I thank Mr Hanson for reading his press club speech to us. We did not have to pay for it, and that was the great benefit of hearing it all again this morning. It was exactly the same speech. You cannot plagiarise yourself, and credit where it is due for your recycling policy, Mr Hanson, of continually using the same tired rhetoric, rerunning the 2012, 2008, 2004, and 2001 election campaigns, as successful as they were for the Liberal Party.
Whilst Mr Hanson is busy off in fantasy land delivering in this place the exact same speech he tried to rally the Liberal Party faithful with around his crumbling leadership of the opposition, the government is committed to ensuring that our economy is well placed to tackle the challenges of the future. That is why the government has undertaken nation-leading and far-sighted taxation reforms. It is why we continue to engage closely with local business and the local community to ensure our economy continues to grow. It is why we have supported this community by prioritising jobs
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