Page 2203 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016
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MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (11.45): I am delighted to be able to speak to this motion. This is classic A-grade political nonsense from Mr Hinder. It is disappointing that Mr Hinder as a new member would use one of his rare opportunities to speak in this place to simply run out the Labor right faction scare campaign tactics that we have seen deployed with some success, I would have to say, across the country. We know the way the Labor Party does its business in concert with its mates from the CFMEU.
The only thing that I would agree on with Mr Hinder about this motion is that it is not just about the next economic cycle; this is about the long-term future of this city. This is what we have been talking about for several years now. The fundamental choice is this: a future where just about every single available dollar is spent on trams. The first phase alone is a nominal cost of $1.78 billion, and that is a figure from the Auditor-General.
That money has to come from somewhere, and it comes from a couple of places. It comes from your rates that are going up on average 10 per cent a year. I notice that for units this year it is 20 per cent and for businesses it is another 10 per cent. It is coming from revenue, as in this government squeezing you until you bleed but not until you die.
The only other place it can come from is a reduction in basic services, important services, like health, education and police. This government has started cutting already to fund light rail. This government cut $15 million from the police budget. At the same time this government is demanding our police deal with domestic violence and with ice and with increased issues in Civic and elsewhere as they cut their funding to pay for light rail.
They have done it by cutting hospital beds. The promise was an additional 200 overnight beds at the University of Canberra public hospital, and they cut it by 60 beds. This government promised to rebuild the Canberra Hospital. Senator Gallagher, as she is now, promised an $800 million renewal of the Canberra Hospital. Some $41 million was put in the budget prior to the last election to start that process. Then Mr Rattenbury got into government and that money was ripped out. That $41 million was taken out of the budget.
This government has cut police numbers, has cut hospital beds and has decided on a long-term future where it is all based on a tram. Our future is different, and proudly so. Because we will not do the tram—just $1.78 billion for the first phase—that means I do not need to triple your rates. I will not be tripling your rates as Mr Barr is. I will not be putting up through the roof all the other fees and charges making life unaffordable in this city. What we will do, Madam Deputy Speaker, is invest more into health and into education and restore funding to our police.
You have seen it already with our education package that will attempt to restore some of the damage done by Mr Barr when he cut 23 local schools. This is the bloke that cut 23 local schools and had the audacity to come to this place and talk about funding for education and commitment to education. We have seen under this government and
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