Page 2912 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
This is where we come to the choices that are to be made. As I outlined at the start, we believe in fiscal responsibility. This is a government that is delivering very large deficits at a time of record revenues. They are the facts. In order to get the kind of spending that we believe is needed on street trees in our suburbs, we believe that it should be reallocated from other parts of the budget. That is responsible. That is reasonable. That is how we believe it should be done. And we have nominated the arboretum. We have nominated the arboretum because we believe the government is picking and choosing and it has chosen what it sees as and what it deems to be the good trees at the arboretum.
Make no mistake: by allowing the budget to go through in its current form, by not sending a clear message to the government, people who vote against this will be endorsing that intent. They will be endorsing ripping $11 million out of the street tree replacement program. We have got an opportunity here. It is not a majority government. If this was a majority government, as it used to be, we would put forward the motion and we would know that the then nine Labor members were going to vote against it. They would push through their budget, and they would be responsible.
Now it will be the Assembly that will be responsible for determining whether we agree with it or not. The members of the Liberal Party in the Assembly will be voting to save our street trees. We will be voting for different priorities from this government. We know how the Labor Party is going to vote. They have set out their intentions in the budget. They have said they believe the arboretum is more important than street trees. Okay. We fundamentally disagree with that but they are on the record as saying that. That is reflected in their decisions. That is reflected in their budget.
So I ask to the Greens: will you support our moves? Will you use the power you have in this place?” Between us and you, there are 10 votes. That is a majority. We have a majority that apparently is in favour of a street tree replacement program, that apparently believes that ripping out $11.2 million is not a reasonable thing to do. The question becomes: will we vote to make that a reality? Will we vote in accordance with that belief, in accordance with those different priorities? It will be a reflection of our collective priorities as an Assembly.
We make it clear in the terms of this motion that we believe the government has got its priorities wrong, that the great tree-killing plan of Jon Stanhope is not something we believe in. Make no mistake: if you vote in favour of ripping out that $11.2 million—when we are told by the government that this is urgent, that there is a pressing need to commence replacement of Canberra’s urban forest, that the trees are ageing and reaching the end of their life simultaneously, that we need greater levels of maintenance to minimise risk to community and property—then you are voting for lesser amenity in our suburbs. You are voting for a position that says, “Despite the fact that the work has been done identifying that there is a pressing need, that there is an urgent need, we do not mind it being taken out.” You are saying to the community that you agree with these misplaced priorities, that you agree that the arboretum is more important than street trees.
The Assembly has a clear decision to make: it can follow the government’s line—the ACT Labor Party’s warped priorities on this issue, follow the path that will lead to
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video