Mr MILLS - 2000-06-20
While I was following the debate on the Territory budget in the last sittings, which was my first time in this Chamber to follow that debate, I could not help noticing members opposite making repeated calls for additional expenditure in numerous areas. I would be very interested to know if the Treasurer has had any opportunity to tally up the cost of these funding pledges made by Labor in this year’s appropriation debate?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, as I indicated last week, the meter is ticking away. In fact, the meter has had to be replaced because already at this early stage we have not yet passed the budget and of course we have had all the whimpering and whining from the Leader of the Opposition and her colleagues in relation to the high level of expenditure that has been undertaken by this government and how ...
Mr Henderson: You are deaf.
Mr REED: ... irresponsible that is. ‘You are deaf’ okay, I will pick up the interjection from the good member for Wanguri. Let’s see what they would do in terms of their contribution to the appropriation debate and the kind of things and the impost those things that would have on the budget.
Mr Henderson: Tell us what you would not do?
Mr REED: Now they are complaining about the 2000-01 budget having an increase in net debt of $45m and how horrific that is. Well, whilst we have not costed all of the additional matters that the Leader of the Opposition and her colleagues raised during the course of their contributions, can I say that what they say they do think should be done and what they would do if they were in government, totals $80m on the meter so far. That is why the meter has had to be replaced. They have already spent, if they were in government in terms of what they said they would do, another $80m. Another interesting statistic is none of the things...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is just too much chatter on the opposition benches.
Mr REED: None of the things that were included in the budget, not one of them, did any of the members opposite say they would not do. So that clearly means that the government from their point of view, even from the Labor Party point of view, were on the right track. They have not said they would not build the Girraween School, they would not redevelop the Darwin Hospital, the Alice Springs Hospital, expand other schools. They have not said, even though the railway in the mind of the Leader of the Opposition is a faded, unachievable dream, they have not said they would not fund the railway, notwithstanding that they did not have the fortitude or the commitment to see the project through like the government did and it will be a reality out there creating jobs before the end of this calendar year. If they have that commitment in spending their extra $80m they might have said where they would save the money. But they are not going to cut anything off; they are going to do everything the government is currently doing.
So one can only assume in relation to where the money comes from, where are they going to get this other $80m? Are they going to do away with the Department of Arts and Museums and 114 staff, save $13m there, perhaps? The Office of Ethnic Affairs, $1m, six staff - they could give that the chop. Clearly there are agencies they have in mind that would not be operating in terms of what they are doing today. We saw a bit of this in the lead up to the last election when the good member for Stuart was suggesting, on ABC Radio on the public record, that there would be a massive increase in education expenditure ‘We will take the money from other departments’. And that is what Territorians have to be aware of.
Find out in spending all their extra money what they would stop doing, what capital works they will not commit to, what are they going to stop doing and how are they going to and how are they going to pay for the $80m. They are asking for everything from airstrips in every community, every community is going to have a sealed airstrip, every community is going to have an airconditioned hall in their schools and so on.
I think I have demonstrated that with the meter ticking away, they have spent an extra $80m. I am pleased to table the list of items they have placed on the record that they would do. When we get some additional costings on the other items that are currently uncosted, the meter of course is ticking away all the time, I think this clearly demonstrates that they have no idea about having to set priorities, no indication of what projects they would not pursue and no idea of how they would manage the economy.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, as I indicated last week, the meter is ticking away. In fact, the meter has had to be replaced because already at this early stage we have not yet passed the budget and of course we have had all the whimpering and whining from the Leader of the Opposition and her colleagues in relation to the high level of expenditure that has been undertaken by this government and how ...
Mr Henderson: You are deaf.
Mr REED: ... irresponsible that is. ‘You are deaf’ okay, I will pick up the interjection from the good member for Wanguri. Let’s see what they would do in terms of their contribution to the appropriation debate and the kind of things and the impost those things that would have on the budget.
Mr Henderson: Tell us what you would not do?
Mr REED: Now they are complaining about the 2000-01 budget having an increase in net debt of $45m and how horrific that is. Well, whilst we have not costed all of the additional matters that the Leader of the Opposition and her colleagues raised during the course of their contributions, can I say that what they say they do think should be done and what they would do if they were in government, totals $80m on the meter so far. That is why the meter has had to be replaced. They have already spent, if they were in government in terms of what they said they would do, another $80m. Another interesting statistic is none of the things...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is just too much chatter on the opposition benches.
Mr REED: None of the things that were included in the budget, not one of them, did any of the members opposite say they would not do. So that clearly means that the government from their point of view, even from the Labor Party point of view, were on the right track. They have not said they would not build the Girraween School, they would not redevelop the Darwin Hospital, the Alice Springs Hospital, expand other schools. They have not said, even though the railway in the mind of the Leader of the Opposition is a faded, unachievable dream, they have not said they would not fund the railway, notwithstanding that they did not have the fortitude or the commitment to see the project through like the government did and it will be a reality out there creating jobs before the end of this calendar year. If they have that commitment in spending their extra $80m they might have said where they would save the money. But they are not going to cut anything off; they are going to do everything the government is currently doing.
So one can only assume in relation to where the money comes from, where are they going to get this other $80m? Are they going to do away with the Department of Arts and Museums and 114 staff, save $13m there, perhaps? The Office of Ethnic Affairs, $1m, six staff - they could give that the chop. Clearly there are agencies they have in mind that would not be operating in terms of what they are doing today. We saw a bit of this in the lead up to the last election when the good member for Stuart was suggesting, on ABC Radio on the public record, that there would be a massive increase in education expenditure ‘We will take the money from other departments’. And that is what Territorians have to be aware of.
Find out in spending all their extra money what they would stop doing, what capital works they will not commit to, what are they going to stop doing and how are they going to and how are they going to pay for the $80m. They are asking for everything from airstrips in every community, every community is going to have a sealed airstrip, every community is going to have an airconditioned hall in their schools and so on.
I think I have demonstrated that with the meter ticking away, they have spent an extra $80m. I am pleased to table the list of items they have placed on the record that they would do. When we get some additional costings on the other items that are currently uncosted, the meter of course is ticking away all the time, I think this clearly demonstrates that they have no idea about having to set priorities, no indication of what projects they would not pursue and no idea of how they would manage the economy.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016