Page 1787 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 8 June 2016
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manager, what we have seen in reality, as compared to the forecast, is $1.1 billion in deficits and government debt increasing from almost nothing when he took over as Treasurer to approximately $2 billion currently, and forecast to blow out to nearly $3 billion.
Other than the light rail, and some election year promises that only last for a year—as is the case with one of the buses, which only goes for a year, as do the green bin trials—the other thing that we have seen is the photocopying of a whole number of Liberal policies. I suppose we should be quite chuffed by that, but it is still—
Mr Barr: Flattering!
MR HANSON: Indeed, but it is quite extraordinary that this government wait for a period of time—a couple of weeks—and then they come out and say, “Me too; me too. We’ll do that as well.” So this government are saying that they have this reformist agenda, but what we are seeing are election year sweeteners, increasing rates and other fees and charges, hundreds of millions being allocated towards a tram, and a photocopy of a whole range of Liberal policies.
I would have liked to express this at every opportunity, and I will tomorrow, but it would have been nice if Mr Smyth and I had been able to be at the budget breakfast this morning. As you will recall, Madam Speaker, that was an occasion in our community when both sides of the equation could be put forward; the government was able to express its view to the business community and we would then hear back from the opposition with a critique of the budget. When it comes to these things, there are always two stories to be told.
I would again like to express my disappointment that the Chief Minister has decided, since he became Chief Minister, not to debate Mr Smyth and me. I think it is a little indicative of the nature of this government that we have the rhetoric on one side that this is an inclusive, open government, while on the other side the reality is that after many years of open debate about the budget in the community, Mr Barr decided to shut that down. I am particularly disappointed, Madam Speaker, that in an election year, when members of the community want to hear from both the government and the opposition on alternative agendas, Mr Barr again refused to attend if the opposition were going to debate him.
When you have a Chief Minister who is also the Treasurer, and who is so scared to debate the opposition, that tells you a lot, not just about the man but also about the fragility of this budget. The reality is that with the government spin machine pumping out flyers into every suburb, and tweets and press releases from all the ministers, there is an attempt to try to bamboozle the electorate. But it is quite clear that Mr Barr does not want Mr Smyth or me to be there to critique it and to expose the truth. We will continue to do so through the estimates process and in my reply on Thursday.
I thank Mr Smyth for bringing this forward today. It is a bad budget. There is no doubt that this is a bad budget not just in fiscal terms or in terms of priorities, but that it will be a bad budget for Canberrans. There is a better way to do this. There is a better way forward for the people of Canberra. I will look forward to outlining that alternative vision on Thursday.
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