Page 2643 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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I particularly thank my colleagues within the cabinet and within the government for their support. It is a challenging process each year to put the budget together and it is not possible without the very strong support of colleagues. I would also like to particularly acknowledge the staff within the Treasury area of the now-expanded Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate who work incredibly hard to assist the government and all members in this place not only in the preparation of the budget but also in the scrutiny and answering of questions and being available to provide advice and assistance most particularly to the government, obviously, but also to all members.
I would also like to thank my own staff in my office. They work very long hours during the budget process, and there are a number who are still there now. Thank you all for your very strong support.
In closing, Madam Speaker, the budget is about investing in our city, in our households, in our businesses and in our most vulnerable and about supporting jobs. We do this with a very strong belief that governments should be here to support the community, and particularly in difficult times like we are experiencing now as a result of decisions of another parliament and another government that will hit our territory very hard. In light of this, the government has made a decision in this budget to support the economy, households, jobs and businesses.
It has obviously been very well canvassed over the course of the debate how we are going about this, but, just to focus on a few key areas, we are very proud that our health and education investment represents more than half of the expenditure in this budget. This, of course, remains the territory’s and this government’s top priority. In particular, we have taken a decision in this budget to step in to fill the funding gap that was left by the commonwealth. The budget provides $1.4 billion for health in 2014-15, including about $40 million to cover the shortfall left by the commonwealth in the coming fiscal year. There is $961 million invested in our education system, a rise of six per cent on last year, and $465 million in community services and housing, including disability and out of home care services, community housing and homelessness services, and there are many more areas in which the budget invests in high quality services for the community.
We are also seeking to support the territory economy, particularly the private sector, to grow and to create jobs through a wide range of programs, particularly through Invest Canberra, which is doing an outstanding job in bringing more outside investment and business into the territory, and, through the establishment of the Canberra innovation network, the provision of targeted and expert support to help innovative businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs go to that next level.
In infrastructure there is a $2.5 billion commitment over four years, a range of transformational projects for the city, capital metro, city to the lake, Australia Forum, new court facilities as well as a range of smaller projects right across the territory.
We continue our tax reform agenda. Stamp duty and insurance tax are both cut in this budget and the payroll tax threshold is raised. The infrastructure program and our tax cuts are targeted at improving the productive capacity of this economy, and we have
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