Page 1262 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 25 March 2009
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the private sector in the ACT and in the governance of the ACT. This high level of private investment has continued. In fact, the ABS estimate of private investment in the ACT is $3.7 billion in each of the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. Under this government, the volume of private sector investment is up by 75 per cent. That does not happen if the private sector does not have confidence in this government.
The private sector has confidence in the government and continues to invest in the ACT. As was noted by the Chief Minister, in February 2009 our unemployment rate was 2.4 per cent. That is the lowest ever recorded by the ABS, and that was with an associated trend of growth in employment. It is indeed unfortunate that the opposition continues at this time to talk down the ACT economy. However, it is fortunate that this government has the confidence to do what needs to be done and the ability to best manage the ACT’s economy.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (11.09): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will speak to the amendment but not close the debate, in case other members want to speak to the amendment. It is interesting but not unexpected from the government that they would simply take the approach that the opposition has said they have caused the global financial crisis. We are going to hear that a lot over the coming months because the government do not have an answer. I would be interested to see whether Ms Burch has actually read the motion; perhaps she can show me where in the motion I have said that the government caused the global financial crisis or caused the recession.
What we have simply said is that the government has contributed to the problems and that it needs to take its share—I did not say take all of it—of responsibility. I said that it has contributed through its negligence. We should have been better prepared to withstand what has appeared.
It is interesting to go back to the then Treasurer and Chief Minister’s statements before the last election:
“I call on the Liberals to commit, today, as I have, to keeping the Budget in surplus in each of the years of the next term,” Mr Stanhope said.
The Chief Minister went on to say that he “pledged that Labor’s fully-funded election promises would maintain a forecast budget surplus, for each of the years of the next term”. That was his commitment. They are his words before the last election. Just before that statement was made, Lehman went under. Just after that time, Citibank got into trouble. It was all at a time, in the lead-up to the ACT election, when commentators such as Ross Gittins on 16 June were saying:
My bet is that the economy is slowing, it will continue slowing, it will slow by at least as much as the Reserve Bank is seeking and probably more.
That was in June. In August Ross Gittins again was talking about “in the gathering signs of a slowing economy”. This was not something that just suddenly appeared. The opposition understood that when we took to the election promises to stimulate the economy, to lift the tax burden off first homeowners, off cafe owners, to stimulate business, to support tourism, because we knew that something was going to happen
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