Page 2586 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 2013
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It does not really matter what the issue is; it comes to a point where we simply hear the same speech from the Greens minister of this government each time, commending the government for being wonderful and criticising the opposition. So it becomes apparent that there is really little point in Mr Rattenbury speaking to these motions and getting involved in the debate if he is simply echoing the government’s position, which is what he is constantly doing. He is a member of the government, so why are we dealing all the time with this sort of secondary minister, the minister assisting the other ministers with a Green tinge? It is a nonsense. There is no independent thought coming forward from the Greens minister. It is simply the government line.
I go to the substance of what Mr Smyth is saying in his motion. There are a number of real concerns that the opposition has with this budget. Recommendation 3 of the estimates report states:
The Committee recommends that the Budget not be passed because of its lack of delivery, high levels of deficit and deceitful plan to massively increase commercial and residential rates.
If I go to debt, the government is trying to say that the debt is not an issue, but when we look at the debt and deficit and we see what government borrowings—which include those territory-owned corporations—have gone to, it is $2.7 billion in 2012-13, nearly 70 per cent of the total budget, and by 2014-15 it is going up to $3.5 billion. We know that the Labor Party and the Greens philosophically like debt. You can see with the federal budget that that is the way they operate. They seem to think that the more debt you have, the better you are doing. They will let generations to come pay for the largesse they have got.
Mr Barr interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr Barr! This is not a place for conversation. Do that in the lobby.
MR HANSON: When it comes to deficit, the recommendation is:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government address the underlying deficit as a matter of priority.
Although the government is talking about surpluses in the outyears—and anyone would have to be a very strong optimist to believe ever again in a Labor surplus—the reality is that the structural deficit is $668 million over the budget. And that is, as I articulated yesterday, despite the fact that this government is getting massive amounts of revenue, an extra $250 million a year, so that by the outyears the budget is going to be about a billion dollars bigger in terms of revenue than it is now. The government is spending an additional $668 million on top of that.
It really seems that no matter how much money this government get, how much they squeeze and how much they tax, as Ted Quinlan, Andrew Barr’s mentor, said, “Squeeze them till they bleed but not until they die. Get as much revenue as you can and then spend more than that. Keep spending.”
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