Page 1870 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 June 2014
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backyards. We will not force people out of their cars. We will not ban piggeries that do not exist, or interfere unnecessarily in everybody’s lives. We will not spend taxpayers’ money to appease a Green. We will not take millions of dollars in poker machine revenue that is meant for the hardest hit in our community.
What this budget shows more than anything is that, despite the fact that Katy Gallagher boasts constantly about the fact that the people of Canberra always vote for her and vote for Labor, when they understand the pain that this budget brings, the people of Canberra will have their say.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (3.21): The Greens are a party built on four pillars, four principles; those are social justice, ecological sustainability, peace and non-violence, and grassroots democracy. Those pillars underlie our decisions as best as possible and guide our policies.
I have been pleased to be able to bring those values to the budget cabinet process, and this budget is an amalgam of the values of the ALP and the values of the Greens.
There is no doubt that we share a range of values. Working on this budget with my ALP colleagues was a collaborative affair. There was give and take, there were wins and losses, and there were compromises on matters of principle that one stands up for in cabinet. That is the nature of the relationship that my party, the Greens, has with the ALP in this place. We do not always agree, but, most importantly, we are prepared to work together for the benefit of the people of this city.
Canberra is weathering a storm at the moment, and this budget is an umbrella against that storm. This budget must respond to the significant federal pressures that the ACT is under at the moment. We have an obligation to the people of Canberra to ensure that they are protected from the worst of what the federal government is serving up for them.
However, this budget must also keep an eye on the future of our city. There is a need to trust in Canberra, and to embrace opportunities that will build this city into a place that we are proud of in years to come, a place that changes over time as it grows, but changes in positive ways. The people of Canberra do not expect their government to keep an eye on just their immediate needs; they expect us to look to their children and their grandchildren, who also want to live happy, fulfilling and interesting lives in this city.
This is not the time to shy away from investing in Canberra. It is irresponsible for any government to ignore the longer term challenges and opportunities, perhaps because they are distracted by the short-term political cycle. It is sometimes difficult for governments to be strong in their resolve to invest in the future, with the short-term bickering that goes on in politics, but the Greens have always believed in governing for the future, in long-term thinking, and in a responsibility to those who come after us, in decades or even a century from now. We cannot pretend that there will not be economic storms in the future, and we need to build the resilience of our community, our city and our economy.
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