Page 1415 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 24 March 2010
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MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.18): No matter how the Treasurer tries to deny it, no matter how many times the Treasurer tries to claim otherwise, this government has engaged in reckless spending. What we are faced with now are the challenges that come when you cannot control your spending for years. We are faced now with the difficulties that come when you cannot control your spending. We have seen it in so many areas. I think one of the most interesting aspects of any debate we have in this place with the government is that they always measure what they do by the amount of money they have spent on it. We have used the example of some of their capital works projects. They had a $120 million dam which became a $360 million dam.
Mr Smyth: That is a good thing, apparently.
MR SESELJA: That is a good thing, because according to the Labor Party way of thinking in this place, they have spent $240 million more on dams than they had planned to. On the inputs-based way of measuring things, which is inherent in their mindset, instead of only spending $120 million on water, they have spent $360 million on the water security project—plus all the others. It is a ridiculous way of looking at things, and it goes to the heart of the mindset of this government that they think that whenever they spend money on something that is the same as getting an outcome. What the community is concerned about is the outcome.
We can take the Gungahlin Drive extension, for example. In the end, people wanted a two-lane road. They wanted it a while ago, but what they are getting is a one-lane road and eventually a two-lane road, and they are paying at least, even on the government’s own figures, an extra $20 million for the privilege. They are paying more than $20 million extra. That is the conservative blow-out on the government’s own figures, not counting the fact that it started as a much cheaper project. Just on the government’s figures it is about $20 million more by not duplicating it straightaway. So the people of Gungahlin are paying more and getting less, as we see in so many areas. They are getting a two-lane road, but they are getting it years after they should have, and they are paying at least $20 million, conservatively, for that privilege.
The government come into this place and they talk about capital works and they say, “We spent more than you on capital works.” My oath you did, because you cannot control your spending. They have spent more than anyone has before on dams because they had a $120 million dam and suddenly it has blown out to a $360 million dam. No-one has ever spent that much on dams in the territory, let me give you the tip. When it comes to overspending on capital works, this government get the gold star. They get the prize for spending more because they cannot control their spending, and we see it in so many areas.
Ms Gallagher, who does not like to talk about the specifics, needs to consider the areas where they have failed to control their spending and the impact of that. There are two real aspects to this in terms of the overspend. There is the fact that we have a government that for years and years and years have been getting more and more revenue than they ever anticipated—the greatest revenue boom in our history. The budget will have nearly doubled by the end of this term; it will have nearly doubled in roughly 10 years.
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