Page 2252 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Labor is committed to the expansion of Canberra’s technology and tourism industries because those industries are particularly well suited to our region and offer considerable potential for jobs growth.
There you go. The IT industry is no longer a strategic sector, and last year we cut the daylights out of tourism. I see.
Mr Stanhope: How is tourism going?
MR SMYTH: That is how you build a partnership. You beat them to death.
Mr Stanhope: I was talking to the hotels association the other day.
MR SMYTH: This is the problem. The Chief Minister has lamented the economic base.
Mr Stanhope: They were complaining of a lack of beds.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Chief Minister!
Mr Stanhope: They could not keep up with demand.
MR SPEAKER: Come to order!
MR SMYTH: He has done it so many times in the past. On 22 August, during question time, just last week, Jon Stanhope said:
But across the board, in a jurisdiction such as ours, with a narrow economic base—
He goes on to say:
We have no mines. We have not yet been able to attract a uranium mining export licence.
But he does not list what he has done. I find it remarkable that anyone in the ACT, understanding the nature of this economy and it narrowness, would suggest that we should not have the degree of reliance on property that we do. Apparently the Jon Stanhope of 1998 thought we actually should diversify the economic base. He said it in estimates as well. He said:
We are a small jurisdiction with a narrow economic base—
Members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister and Mr Mulcahy, please do not have a conversation.
MR SMYTH: At the estimates hearing on 18 June, in answer to Mr Mulcahy, the Chief Minister said:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .