Page 5540 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Smyth! I am trying to stop the interjections so we can hear the Treasurer. Mr Hanson and Mr Coe, I warned both of you yesterday, and I do not want to have to do the same thing again today. Let us limit the interjections, thank you. Treasurer, you have the floor.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I find it just that little bit humorous that Mr Smyth, if he was the Treasurer, could have stopped the global financial crisis and actually could have amended the GST receipts for the whole country. That is slightly amusing.
Mr Hanson: We would have been in a far better position.
MS GALLAGHER: You keep believing that, Mr Hanson. Just keep believing that, and you will stay right over there where you are, safe and sound on the opposition benches.
The government will look at the data provided in the MYEFO. We will, of course, seek to minimise any reductions in services around this. This is what we will do. They are all decisions that are on the table that budget cabinet deals with every year. This year is no different to that.
MS PORTER: A supplementary?
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Treasurer, how does the lost revenue impact on the budget plan and the territory’s own recovery strategy?
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Ms Porter. As members would be aware, in my first budget we outlined a seven-year recovery strategy based on the faster economic recovery than had been expected by anyone. We were able to bring that forward by two years. We are on target for that. That is not without its challenge.
I think this year’s budget cabinet will perhaps be harder than most, although budget cabinets are always difficult. The decisions that we will take are around how we deal with increased demand for services, how we minimise any revenue increases and how we deal with lost revenue or reductions in revenue from when we put our budget together. At this point in time we remain on track and on target to return the budget to surplus in the 2013-14 financial year.
ACTION bus service—timetable
MS BRESNAN: My question is to the Minister for Transport and is in relation to the rollout of the new ACTION bus timetables. Minister, since the changes in bus routes and timetables commenced, constituents have raised complaints about missing their buses because, despite having looked at the ACTION website, there was not any clear information saying a bus would no longer use a certain bus stop. Minister, why has ACTION not adequately communicated the changes in its routes to the public and what extra and new steps is ACTION taking to fix this problem?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video