Page 290 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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proposition which I thought that you would have supported, Mr Berry, that by sending these people into the New South Wales gaol system, first of all we expose them to personal danger - - -
Mr Berry: But there is a plan.
MR KAINE: As you would well know - do you want me to answer the question or not?
Mr Berry: Well, you said there was a plan. I just want you to clarify that.
MR KAINE: Firstly, there is a potential physical danger to people who go into the New South Wales system and, secondly, there is a need to have some regard for the families of these people who disappear into the New South Wales gaol system and may be located a long way geographically from Canberra. You, who talk about social justice so loudly and long, might have thought that they were compelling reasons for making some long-term provision for our own prisoners, rather than feeding them into the New South Wales system.
None of this, of course, has anything to do with the redevelopment of the Royal Canberra Hospital or the hospital system. We are grappling with that problem that you shirked - you just set it aside because it was all too hard. We are grappling with that problem and we are grappling with it in the short term. Both the VFT and the gaol are long-term commitments for which no financial provision has to be made this year or next year, but financial provision certainly has to be made this year or next year to deal with the hospital problem that you simply failed to address.
Borrowing Restrictions
MS FOLLETT: Again, my question is to Mr Kaine in his capacity as Treasurer. What financial principle underlies your policy of restricting borrowing for individual projects by public enterprise to 50 per cent of the cost? Could you inform the Assembly whether this is a policy in common use in the private sector.
MR KAINE: No, it is not a principle that is in common use anywhere, but we happen to be taking a very responsible position to the financing of this Territory - something that you did not understand, let alone put into practice - and this is a basic method of reducing our borrowings, thereby reducing the later burden to the taxpayer in connection with the interest on those borrowings. This is a very basic and simple principle that I do not need to borrow from anywhere. I believe that it is a matter of prudence to reduce our borrowings, as you attempted to do last year on your capital works program. We will attempt
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