Page 118 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016
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money has been ripped out of the budget. There is the Belconnen hospital, Madam Speaker. They went to the last election and said, “We will give you 200 beds there.” They reduced that to 140. They still will not tell us what the full cost of light rail will be over 20 years. I am not sure if we are going to believe it, but there is a figure. What is the full cost over 20 years? They still will not tell the community. The bush healing farm is another example. There are countless examples.
The problem for this Labor government is that the people of the ACT have stopped believing them. They do not trust them. When the Labor government here say a figure, people out there in the community say, “Well, you can double that.” We know from history and real examples that if this government say a figure, double it at least, because that will be the sad reality. You can probably add two or three years to the time line to build the infrastructure program as well.
The question of the mandate is an interesting one. It seems to be an argument back and forth. There are quotes—and Mr Coe read them out—of where the community was at on the eve of the 2012 election. The greatest advocate for light rail in this town is Damien Haas and he is used regularly by the government to promote their cause. On the eve of the 2012 election he made it very clear on his blog that he put out that the government had only committed to a feasibility study. That was his view. That was the view of the ACT’s greatest advocate for light rail, the person that took most attention and had most to gain from the light rail policy.
It was the view of Amanda Bresnan. Amanda Bresnan said that the government had only committed to a feasibility study. The Greens and the advocate thought it was just a feasibility study. The community and the ACT Treasury believed that because the policy submitted by the Labor Party to Treasury was the $30 million for a feasibility study. The Greens and the light rail advocate said that, and that was what was put into ACT Treasury as their costed policy.
The problem for the community, Madam Deputy Speaker, is the view that the government has stopped listening to them. This is something that happens to governments when they are old, when they have been around for 15 years. They stop listening to the community; they listen to themselves. They do what they want rather what the community wants them to do and they forget that it is the ratepayers’ money. It is the community’s money that this government is playing with. This is not Simon Corbell’s money. This is not Shane Rattenbury’s money. This is the money of the ratepayers of the ACT. The government is going to commit the ratepayers of the ACT to hundreds of millions of dollars of expenditure without a mandate, without taking it to the people. If the government is so sure that this is what the community wants, why does it not take it to the election?
Mr Corbell interjecting—
MR HANSON: Why are they so scared, Madam Deputy Speaker? Why are they so scared?
Mr Coe interjecting—
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