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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (16 April) . . Page.. 915 ..

MR KAINE: I am sure that the Chief Minister is well aware of some of this unproductive debate.

Members interjected.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I might be able to help Mr Kaine. I could table this.

MR SPEAKER: Would you mind sitting down, Mr Berry. Mr Kaine is asking a question.

MR KAINE: That was not speculation either, far from it. Chief Minister, are you concerned about the possible effects on Canberra of any possible loss of Public Service jobs, and is the ACT prepared to cope with these cuts? In the broader sense and in the context of the question previously asked by the Leader of the Opposition, can you tell us how this Government's approach to generating economic growth in Canberra differs from the Follett Government's record in this matter?

MRS CARNELL: I thank the member for the question, because it is an issue that, at least on this side of the house, we take extremely seriously. Those on the opposite side seem to think it is a big joke. Like everybody, at least on this side of the house, I am worried about the possible effects of Federal public sector job cuts in the ACT. Nobody here wants to see jobs lost in Canberra, no matter how or where they are lost. That is why I have been lobbying my Federal coalition colleagues on this exact issue, pointing out to them quite forcefully that the current speculation about massive job cuts is damaging confidence in the ACT economy. There is no doubt about that. At the leaders forum in Adelaide on Friday, I reminded State Premiers that some 85 per cent of Commonwealth employees are based outside Canberra.

Mr Berry: Did they like being called "stupid"?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I will say that again, because Mr Berry does not seem to be too interested in this issue, which is very important to this Assembly. Eighty-five per cent of Commonwealth employees actually do not work in Canberra at all. Some Premiers proposed quite ridiculous figures for public sector cutbacks. I was quite happy to say that they made stupid comments about our city. I think they were running off at the mouth. That was really what it was about. They were bandying around figures that could do nothing but hurt our economy, and hurt it quite seriously. I made those statements, I believe, very forcefully in Adelaide and I will continue to do so.

The member asked whether the ACT was prepared for public sector cuts. As I have said previously, the answer is no; we are not as well prepared as we should be. Since our election a year ago, we have been moving the ACT away from the complete reliance on the Commonwealth public sector that typified the previous ACT Labor Government.

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