Page 1934 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
minister, does not even acknowledge the bleeding obvious any longer. There were something like 48 key objectives in the economic white paper. There were something like nine key areas of diversity—information and communications technology, space sciences, biotechnology, public administration, environmental industries, creative industries, sports science and administration, education and defence—thrown out, gone, dismissed, because Mr Quinlan was not there to protect them and nobody else in the cabinet understands.
Mr Coe: Too hard.
MR SMYTH: Too hard. We had at least some objectives, most of which were not met or most of which were relegated into the second tier. What we have replacing it is the document Capital development: towards our second century. We have gone from key industries and actions to three themes. We have themes. We have themes in business. Perhaps we will all wear the same blue shirts or we will all dance to the same tune. Themes are useless, because they do not tell you what you are going to do. It is not a plan to diversify the ACT economy.
If we look at the history of economic diversification in this place, in 2001, when government changed, 60 per cent of the ACT workforce was employed by the private sector—60 per cent. That was a stark change from 1995, when only 40 per cent was in the private sector. What we have seen since 2001 is a decline. The most recent figures I have seen say that probably 55 per cent, if not less, of the workforce is now in the private sector. Again, all it means is that we are further reliant on government spending. We know what happens to government spending when you hit the tough times, and we have hit the tough times. With a billion-dollar turnaround, what we find is that we do not have the capacity to do the things that we might be able to do or should be able to do, because the government has not planned properly for the future.
The final point of this motion is to condemn the Stanhope-Gallagher government for its inability to respond to the downturn in the ACT economy. It is quite interesting. I was looking back at some of the debates from 2006. One of the quotes I find is this. I predicted that by this year the deficit might be $190 million. The Chief Minister pooh-poohed the idea. He said—
Ms Gallagher: So you did see it coming. You did see it coming; you just did not tell the rest of the world, Brendan.
MR SMYTH: Well, the number is there. Go back and check the Hansard. It culminated—for those that were not here—at a budget breakfast, the anniversary of which will be next week, where the Chief Minister threatened me. He grabbed his mobile phone and he said, “If you keep using that number in public, I will call you a liar.” That was his defence: “I will call you a liar.”
It is interesting to look back; one can always reflect. It is quite interesting. The Chief Minister said:
The midyear review predicts a 2009-10 deficit of $17 million. With a magic wand the opposition has just conjured up a magic pudding. They say the $17 million is not correct; it is actually $190 million.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .