Page 2785 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: You want silence?
MR DOSZPOT: Yes.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: If you are referring to the minister, refer to him by his name or title, not the “minister of spin”. Thank you; continue.
MR DOSZPOT: Thank you. Minister, while businesses in Canberra are doing it tough, you are comfortable with a cabinet decision that has seen total funding for this event blow out to almost $3 million, from an original budget of $900,000 approximately. Recommendation 87 of the Select Committee on Estimates 2009-2010 is as follows:
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Mr Andrew Barr MLA, provide to the Assembly a report providing a reconciled budget for the Mountain Bike World Championship, and which outline the benefits of that event.
The government response, which we received today, was:
Agreed.
This will be provided after the Championship event has occurred.
Minister, I am sure that the rest of the Assembly will be as keen as I am to hear from you after the conclusion of that event.
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo) (9.55): Territory and Municipal Services receives one of the largest appropriations from the budget and this expenditure is spread over a number of business units. This is a good example of where the budget papers could usefully provide better clarity and break the figures down. The estimates committee recommended that TAMS start providing a breakdown of operating expenses for each business unit within the output classes. Unfortunately, this recommendation, 66, was not agreed to by the government. I strongly supported it and I would like to point out that this would have led to fewer questions on notice for the government.
More than in other areas of the budget, TAMS issues often relate to the areas and the environment where people live. It is one of those areas members of the public want to understand when they look at the budget. It is clear to most of us, I think, on all sides of politics, that more could be done in the TAMS area: we could always fix more potholes; we could always have more bike paths; we could always fix the cracks in the footpaths; we could always extend roads. The public feel strongly about the priorities, especially when they are near their houses. The clearer the budget is, the better we can all understand it and scrutinise it—which would only be a good thing.
This has been another bumper roads budget. There has been massive spending on roads. There has been $83 million for Gungahlin Drive extension, $10 million on extending Mulligans Flat, and a number of other projects. I think that this is the biggest budget for roads on record.
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