Page 4062 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Let me go to page 42 of this year’s budget paper 3. The Treasurer tells us:
The temporary deficits over the next three years reflect the Government’s investment in jobs and services.
The temporary deficit? We know from documents tabled yesterday that it is going to be a lot longer than the next three years. What we do not have from the government is a plan to show us where the surplus is coming from, because we have a Treasurer who believes the deficits are temporary and that somehow, when the federal government starts spending, everything will be hunky-dory like it has always been.
There is an opportunity here to create a greater private sector in the ACT. The Canberra Liberals have stood up to both federal coalition and federal Labor governments and said, “No; don’t slash public servants in the ACT as a balancing item on your budget.” We have now had several Labor governments who destroyed the federal economy. We get Liberal governments that come in and clean it up. We need to make sure that we minimise the impact to the ACT. The impact on the ACT will not be minimised by motions like this. The impact on the ACT will be minimised by improving the private sector, getting the reforms right and having a long-term vision as to where the city is going—not, for instance, starting projects and saying, “We have got the city plan; we have got the city to the lake,” and then saying, “They are now off the agenda or pushed back.”
Businesses want certainty. They want to know what the government is committed to. The community needs certainty and the best long-term value from things like land sales, where we work out the best long-term use, not the short-term gain of a few bucks for the budget so that the Treasurer can attempt to balance his budget. We need to work out how we use land, which, of course, is a finite resource; they are not going to make any more. We need to make sure that we get it right for the long term so that we and the generations that come after us have a long-term future. The best way to achieve that is by improving, developing and growing the private sector in the ACT so that we all get the dividend and we all get what we should from— (Time expired)
Debate interrupted in accordance with standing order 74 and the resumption of the debate made an order of the day for a later hour.
Sitting suspended from 12.25 to 2.30 pm.
Visitor
MADAM SPEAKER: Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I acknowledge the presence in the chamber of one of our former attendants, Mr Peter Litchfield. Welcome back to the Assembly.
Questions without notice
Canberra Hospital—emergency department
MR HANSON: My question is to the Minister for Health. It concerns delays in emergency surgery at the Canberra Hospital. In the Canberra Times on 22 November,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video