Page 1193 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 1993
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My approach has been, and remains, that whatever efficiencies and whatever reductions in expenditures are necessary must be sustainable. I do not support the Liberals' slash and burn approach. I believe that a cautious and measured reduction of our expenditure is the way to go. It has clearly paid great dividends in terms of our financial management. This has been commented upon by independent observers like Standard and Poors, for instance. I think there is no doubt whatsoever about our record on financial management.
Mr Kaine has asked, particularly, about revenue. I am sure that he will have scrutinised the Grants Commission's report very carefully. He will see that on the general question of revenue the ACT is well up to scratch. Madam Speaker, that is part of the reason why our financial management has been so favourably commented upon. What Mr Kaine is trying to do is to draw me on issues which would be rightly considered in the budget context. I have to tell Mr Kaine - I do not know how many times that I have told him the same thing - that those issues will be considered in the budget context. They will also be considered in the light of the Grants Commission's assessment, as well as that of many others, that our revenue performance and our revenue effort as a Territory compared to the other States and the Northern Territory is just about equal. There are no outstanding areas of revenue capacity that I am aware of where our effort is below standard.
MR KAINE: I have a supplementary question, Madam Speaker. Given the fact which the Chief Minister and Treasurer has pointed out, that our revenue raising is about standard, will she give an assurance that there will be no new taxes, and that existing taxes will not increase at a rate greater than the CPI movement for the last year?
MS FOLLETT: I give an assurance, Madam Speaker, that my taxing regime has always been, and will remain, much less draconian than Mr Kaine's one and only experience when he raised taxes quite significantly in his single budget. If Mrs Carnell were to take on the Treasury, which I very much doubt she would do, we would also need to be raising taxes to prop up businesses in the ACT - to prop up uncompetitive businesses, as she seems to imply. Mr Kaine is again trying to draw me on taxes. I will not be drawn. These matters will be considered and fully debated in this chamber in the budget setting.
Fire and Emergency Services
MS ELLIS: My question is directed to the Minister for Urban Services. Can the Minister inform the Assembly of any moves being considered to improve the effectiveness of the fire and emergency services?
MR CONNOLLY: The issue of rescue services and the conflict between firemen and police in providing road rescue has been agitated on a number of occasions in this place. During the last debate there were strident calls from Opposition members for the Government to do something decisively, to act to resolve this conflict. We have done that. There were then strident calls from the Opposition for us to unact and go back and have a review and think about it, which is about consistent with the Opposition's general approach.
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