Page 2748 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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Mr Neser: … If you go through it, the base funding for business and industry development is $8.7 million in their estimated outcome, and it is $8.1 million in their 2010-11 budget. I can provide you—
MR SMYTH: So it has gone down by $800,000.
Mr Neser: That is right.
MR SMYTH: Okay. What is the thinking behind reducing funding for business by $800,000 when you yourself, Chief Minister, just a few days ago admitted the economy was still in a precarious position? Let me quote it properly: “The ACT’s economic future is precarious.”
Mr Stanhope: I am not sure about precarious, but—
MR SMYTH: It is in your press release, Chief Minister.
Mr Stanhope: Precarious?
MR SMYTH: Yes, precarious. You do not remember saying that?
And the Chief Minister had absolutely no idea that he had said that. The Chief Minister was totally unaware of what was in his press release. But I guess after “infastucture”, what is “precarious” amongst friends? If you are sending these messages out—
Mrs Dunne: Did he spell it correctly?
MR SMYTH: He did spell “precarious” right in this case. But, given that he did not have anything to do with it, I am not surprised it was spelt properly. The sad thing is, when you send emails out like that, saying, “We are in a precarious position,” so much of investment and so much about business is about confidence, and this is the supposed leader of the ACT. If he is not interested, he should just get on his bike and go cycling in Spain or wherever it is he is going later in the year. I then asked him:
So why have you reduced the business budget by 10 per cent?
Mr Stanhope said:
I would have to take advice on exactly what the reduction—I must say that I cannot recall a conscious decision in relation to that.
So we have actually cut the budget and the man whose job it was to steer the budget through the budget process was either vagueing out somewhere or wondering whether you should have a mountain bike or a road bike for touring Spain, depending on which shrines you should visit—or whether or not he is just going to the bar. He was so vague that he had absolutely no idea about where he was at the time, and he certainly had no idea in the estimates that he had overseen a cut to the business budget.
We had Ms Gallagher saying during question time that this budget is investing in business. I am not sure a reduction of 10 per cent in the business budget is seen as an
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