Page 2443 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016
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Obviously, we will be looking at each line item in this budget in talking about the strategic direction that the executive and this government are taking the ACT. It is very clear that it is a different direction in many parts to the direction that the opposition would seek to see the ACT go in, and we will not be supporting the budget at the conclusion of this debate.
There are some elements that we are comfortable with, but there are significant points of difference. I would like to go through those at the outset to outline in the broad why it is that we will not be supporting this budget. It is clear that this year, with the election to be in October, the ACT is at somewhat of a crossroads in terms of where the ACT will be going.
To an extent, that is a good thing. That is part of the democratic process. I hope that the debate does stay around the truth and is about the facts. I note that the first Labor scare campaign has been debunked roundly by the Canberra Times and experts today. But I hope that the debate is focused on the issues, what it is that matters to the people of the ACT, and that we see less of the sort of fake Labor scare campaigns that we have seen debunked by experts today. I do not think that that helps with the debate.
I am certainly very positive about our future. I think that with the right policy settings the future for the ACT is bright. But there is a reality. There are a lot of Canberrans out there who are facing a lot of pressures. They are facing pressures personally on their household budgets. I know that Mrs Jones who is here today does a lot of doorknocking out there. She tells me firsthand about the pressure that Canberra families are feeling in paying their rates, paying the other fees and charges like rego—just the difficulty that they are experiencing living in this town and making ends meet.
But at the other end there is also this problem with the ACT budget. The Treasurer has been promising surpluses but delivering deficits. There is also the massive increase that we see in debt and in deficits over the years. Be it at the micro level in households out there in places like Kambah, Belconnen, Weston Creek or parts of Tuggeranong, or when it comes to looking at the budget in detail, it is clear that across the ACT there are significant issues.
Along with that, what we are seeing in many parts are declining services. Fundamental services that should be priorities for this government are declining. Madam Deputy Speaker, you will recall that it was you who cut $15 million from ACT Policing when you were the police minister. These are the sorts of services that are being reduced across this town that are hurting average Canberrans.
The biggest point of difference in many ways, the starkest example of the point of difference between the future that we envisage and that of the Labor government, is the expenditure on the tram. Not only is it an enormous amount of money that is going to cause cost of living increases through increases in rates and other fees and charges that this government needs to raise to pay for the tram. It will also mean that money will be taken away from other vital services that are desperately needed, including, as I said, the $15 million that you cut from ACT Policing, Madam Deputy Speaker.
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