Page 1868 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 June 2014
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this place and say it was unfair for a co-payment to see a GP—that $7 that they raised the concern about—while all the time they are taking an extra $150 from those families, an extra $150 just in their rate rises alone. It is the same as talking about supporting working families while robbing them blind behind their backs. It is the same as talking about fairness and equality while running one of the most elitist governments in this territory’s history.
It is the same as talking about being progressive when what they really mean is taking money from anyone who is not a crony and spending it on their pet projects. And it is the same as stripping millions of dollars from money meant to be used for our community to fund yourselves through pokie machines—targeting some of the poorest families in this city in Charnwood. Don’t you mob ever lecture me on your commitment to social equality while you are targeting Canberra’s poorest families to pay for yourselves and your Labor mates with your pokie machines.
Madam Speaker, this budget is a shambles. Canberra deserves better and we will give it to them in 2016.
Our alternative, Madam Speaker, is clear. I have said it before and I will say it again: we will be different and we will be proudly different from this Labor and Greens government.
Firstly, we would not have wasted 13 years of government to find ourselves in a position where our only option is debt and deficit. Secondly, we would remember that we are not here to serve ourselves. We are here to serve the people of Canberra—the mums, the dads, the singles and married, the builders and tradies, the nurses and teachers, the small business owners: everybody—all working to get ahead, treasuring their homes, raising their families, working for their local communities, but often neglected by this government.
Our vision for Canberra is not focused on minority interests and narrow ideological agendas. Our vision is about making Canberra the best place for everyone to raise a family, to make a living and to get ahead. That is why we will unashamedly pursue economic prosperity—for this city, for our business people and for every citizen of this great city.
We will make Canberra a city where home ownership is attainable, encouraged and respected—not where home owners in Canberra will eventually be slugged an extra $1 billion a year in rates.
We will give Canberra the best health system in Australia, and we will do so by prioritising the health system over pet projects like light rail, solar farms and wind farms. We will get Katy Gallagher’s inner circle out of management positions and end the cycle of sycophancy and bullying that led to the doctoring of 12,000 health records and the resignation of 12 doctors.
Equally important, we should have the best education system in Australia—not by closing schools. I remind you that, while our Chief Minister complains about federal funding, it was Katy Gallagher who signed a deal with Julia Gillard in 2013 that reduced federal funding coming into our schools by $30 million.
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