Page 4058 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (12.10): Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to this motion, and I thank Ms Porter for bringing it on. It is interesting, though. You can question how many times members opposite can bring this motion on and attempt to deflect all the blame to the current commonwealth government when they were mute when the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments were destroying the economy of the ACT.
We all know that there are job cuts in this year’s federal budget—about 16,500 across the APS. But from the Treasurer’s speech yesterday you would think all those job cuts were directly attributable to what the Abbott government is doing. It is just not the truth. That is where the credibility of this motion goes out the door. There would be a taking seriously of the government’s view if they had stood up to the Gillard and Rudd governments when they slashed 14,473 jobs, 89 per cent of the jobs that are currently mooted to go from the Australian public service. Those opposite in the Labor Party, assisted by the Greens, were mute.
There was no objection then. When we put motions forward, they would not support them or they would modify them. They did nothing while Mr Rudd in particular destroyed the public service in the ACT with his mammoth job cuts—job cuts that they never admitted to but that every federal public servant in this city knew were going on. The disharmony in the federal public service starts with the Rudd government. Those opposite did nothing to stop it, did nothing to fight it. Of course, Mr Barr has form on that. We know that, for instance, with the cuts to the cultural institutions, he was the chief cheerleader, saying that cutting the National Gallery budget was a good thing. We all know that that is not so.
So it is very hard to take this motion seriously. On the surface, the motion seems reasonable, but on closer inspection it is touting the same programs and initiatives to address the recent bumps in our economy. You only have to look at part (b), paragraphs (i) to (viii). They are basically the government bringing back programs it axed in 2006 or things that it has just rebadged. It is interesting. Let me just go to one of them, (1)(b)(vii):
… support key sectors of the ACT economy, notably tourism, construction and higher education …
And then let me go to (viii):
… continue reforming taxes by phasing out inefficient taxes that hinder growth and distort investment and consumption decisions …
Let me start with (vii). What is the number one call from the tourism industry in terms of productive infrastructure in the ACT? A new convention centre. Who is the only person in the territory that thinks the current convention centre is reasonable for the size of the city? The minister for tourism. He does not think it needs to be any bigger. He fails to see the opportunity and the frustration in that sector of the community at that recent comment from the Treasurer. It is huge and growing. People are shaking their heads at a government that just does not get the contribution of the business events sector to the economy of this town and the jobs it creates.
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