Page 1235 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2016
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Mr Barr: He is branching out.
MR RATTENBURY: Yes, it would be better if he embraced the project, because we know this is a great project for Canberra. Minister Corbell has just made some comments. Having spoken earlier today about the benefits of light rail, I do not intend to make the points again, other than simply to say that I disagree with Mr Smyth’s analysis. I disagree with the points that he is making. My position on this is well known. On that basis, I will not be supporting Mr Smyth’s motion today.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (5.37), in reply: We have had the full gamut of entertainment this afternoon. The three amigos have come down to try to defend the indefensible. At the end of it, the taxpayers of the ACT will still get to pay for it. According to Mr Rattenbury, nobody is paying for the light rail system. It is not coming out of rates. Where is it coming from? It is just going to appear. We know that it is not self-supporting; it needs a subsidy.
Mr Hanson: It is the magic tram.
MR SMYTH: Now it is a magic tram. It is a free tram. All trams will be free by 1990! It is quite extraordinary. Are you actually saying that not a cent from rates goes into the provision of public transport? Not one cent? Not one cent of rates goes to public transport? Mr Rattenbury has come down with a bit of a myth buster. He started by putting his little black beret on and tried to prove it, but all he has done, I think, is expose his own lack of understanding of how the economy works and how tram systems work.
Then, of course, we had Mr Corbell. Mr Corbell again partially quoted his own policy from 2012. What did it say about funding? I think something like $30 million would be spent getting ready. That is in your policy. You have spent way more than that. You did not tell people the full cost. You did not tell them when the work would start. It can start in 2016. If you win the election in October, you can start in November. So there is still plenty of time. It is interesting that they are suddenly anxious to keep this particular promise when so many other promises have gone by the by.
Then I was really amused that Mr Corbell brought up the delivery of the jail. I would have thought that if anybody in this place would not want to talk about the jail it would be Mr Corbell. Remember, it was going to last for 20 years.
Mr Hanson: Twenty-five.
MR SMYTH: Twenty-five years, capacity for 25 years. He got that one wrong.
He did avoid, of course, Gungahlin Drive, which was meant to be on time, on budget—$55 million in five years. We know Mr Corbell’s record—10 years, $200 million later we finally got Gungahlin Drive.
Then he brought up the arboretum like it was some triumph. I think people acknowledge the arboretum has worked out very well but our objection at the time
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