Page 3423 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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CSIRO, which has such a proud history in Canberra, is being slashed; and investments in the clever economy, such as NICTA, are losing federal funding. The short-term thinking of the federal government is threatening our economy and advances in our health and education systems.
The ACT government is doing its best to limit the damage from the federal government, to diversify our economy, and to keep our economy strong. The Chief Minister recently returned from a trade mission to China, for example, and the Treasurer is working tirelessly to drive investment and innovative business initiatives in Canberra.
The fundamentals of Canberra are strong. We enjoy an enviable quality of life, as evidenced by the OECD report and the Property Council’s assessment. With the forward-thinking, responsible and inspired leadership of the ACT government and the talented and hardworking Canberra community, we will continue to prosper.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (10.55): It gives me great pleasure to talk about what a great city we live in here in Canberra. Although I have some differences of opinion with Dr Bourke on some of the points he made, I think we can all agree that Canberra is the most wonderful place to live in. It is great to see that the OECD has recognised what we all know—that it is a wonderful, wonderful city.
I reflected on this on Saturday night, when I went with my wife and a couple of friends to the lookout at Red Hill where we had a bit of a picnic. We sat there and there were kangaroos bounding around and we looked out over the city. It is a remarkable design in that you can almost look out from that position and not see the city as it is hidden amongst the bushland. It is quite a remarkable vista that has been maintained in the 100 years of its life for the most part very well. It has not been overdeveloped in the wrong places, and we can be rightly proud of what our forebears have achieved in the ACT. That is not to say there is not a lot to do, Madam Speaker. The job is never done; the job is ongoing and there is much we can do. But when we look back at our history, many notable Canberrans have achieved so much for this city.
When I look back over the last 12 years of the ACT Labor government, there are three things I want to look at: are we in the same position that we could have been? Are we better off or worse off than we should be? I will then look at the plan for this government that Dr Bourke referred to for the future, is that the right balance? Dr Bourke is suggesting it is; I beg to differ. Then I will look at what our alternative vision should be.
Looking at the last 12 years of Labor, given that we are such a wealthy jurisdiction, so well educated and looking at our demographics of who we are as a people and our unique situation of wealth relative to everyone else, have the last 12 years been good for Canberra or have we had significant missed opportunity? I will start with the budget. We now find ourselves with a budget that has $4.5 billion of debt. It is laden by debt and it is laden by deficit. The income that comes to this government is double that of the income a previous Liberal government enjoyed under Kate Carnell, yet we have massive debt and massive deficit. So, fail on the budget.
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