Page 3582 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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(a) the Government’s clear capacity to “successfully deliver its infrastructure plans, including private public partnerships and the Asbestos Eradication Scheme, while containing debt levels”;
(b) the Government having “successfully addressed a number of challenges, including the global financial crisis in 2008-2009 and Commonwealth Government fiscal consolidation”; and
(c) the Government “reforming its tax system toward a more stable income source and away from volatile conveyance duties”;
(2) further notes that:
(a) the ACT is one of just three States or Territories in Australia and one of only 28 sub-national jurisdictions outside the USA to hold this rating;
(b) the ACT has now held this rating consistently for 23 years, with only Victoria having a longer track record of holding the highest possible credit rating among the Australian States or Territories; and
(c) this strong ratings record has underpinned the ACT Government’s investment in Canberra by facilitating affordable borrowing from both Australian and international markets; and
(3) acknowledges that the ACT Government will:
(a) maintain a focus on delivering Budgets consistent with a AAA rating while continuing to invest in Canberra’s growth and delivery of the services our community expects and deserves;
(b) continue a steady path back to surplus as the local economy strengthens after a sustained period of economic challenges; and
(c) make continued smart use of the Territory’s balance sheet to invest in infrastructure that will boost our city’s longer-term productivity and growth.
Madam Speaker, our government is committed to strong fiscal management. We are returning our budget to balance and maintaining a world-leading credit rating. We are doing it at the same time as delivering our positive plan to renew our schools and hospitals and invest in transport infrastructure and our neighbourhoods. For most Canberrans, good economic management is not about a positive bottom line or a AAA credit rating. It is about jobs and financial security and a government that delivers the quality services and infrastructure that we need for our growing city.
Unlike other governments throughout Australia and the globe, here in the ACT we have shown that delivering quality services and infrastructure is completely compatible with strengthening the bottom line. Prudent financial management can go hand in hand with equity. Big public investments and reforms, along with the economic opportunities that they bring, can be delivered in tandem with a balanced budget. In fact, investing in these long-term reforms and infrastructure is critical for future economic growth and, consequently, the strength of the territory’s finances.
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