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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 |
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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [3.42 p.m.]: I rise to argue that my motion should get priority because over the past few weeks we have seen that the Rees Government has run out of ideas on how to deal with the economic crisis. The economic crisis is not the reason for this mini-budget. Let us take that myth right out of the equation. The clouds of the financial crisis were recognised as coming for a long time. How long? Even a group such as Treasury New South Wales started to understand that the economic crisis was coming. What did they do? They did not invest in collateralised debt obligations [CDOs]. By not investing in CDOs what else did they know about the looming financial crisis? They might like to explain to councils why they did not pass that advice to every council, particularly as hundreds of millions of dollars of ratepayers' money has been lost.
As every fresh-faced ALP member has lined up for a new job, frolicking in the spoils of their victories over the last couple of elections, the problem of expenses has been building. Year after year revenues have rolled in and expenses have run wild. Why has the Government done nothing about it? Morris Iemma commissioned the Stokes and Vertigan report in 2006. Why is it that important? In 2006, economic conditions were stable and there was an opportunity to secure this State against the financial crisis that we now face. They found that since 2002 expenses had been growing faster than revenue by 1 per cent every year. That means we have gone backwards by $500 million a year since that time. If the Government had just matched revenue and expenses we would be $2.5 billion better off.
What has the Government done? It has done absolutely nothing. I hope members opposite are proud of themselves because today they have no-one to blame but themselves for the crisis we find ourselves in. This is not just about perks in members' offices. It is not just about getting the cars. The member for Monaro is desperately trying to get himself a car. He has not got it. This is about every family in New South Wales. What has this Government delivered? Every family in New South Wales is paying for the mismanagement of this State by this Government. How has that come about? What did they do? The Government has scrapped the back-to-school allowance and increased child-care fees. What does that do? There has been a $1,100 licence fee increase. Matt Bingley who works in Yass has one child at child care and another at school. His wife said:
I live approximately 50ks from Yass at a rural property, my daughter attends Bowning school and my son attends ABC Centre in Yass but as of January 2009 he will also attend Bowning School.
Should I have to pay the school transportation costs for my children I will instantly be out of pocket by $90 and I will also lose $100 back to school allowance.
… Both my husband and I have to work off the farm, our property has been in drought since February 2002…
She has to work just to make ends meet. I refer now to green slips. This is an absolute special. The Minister for Fair Trading should be interested in green slips.
Ms Linda Burney: I am not the Minister for Fair Trading any more.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: You used to be. You could have done a lot more. The Government has announced green slips will cost an extra $10. In 2006 the Premier said that in a new medical care and injury services scheme the cost of green slips would go up only $20. It was actually $85. Today it is $95. The Government has clearly seen another opportunity to take people's money. Amy and Hamish Plaister of Baulkham Hills have two kids, Amelia and Sebastian, and they are struggling. The levy on their green slip is not $20 higher than last year, it is $146.70 higher. They do not have public transport in the north-west and they are being slugged with green slip fees.
I refer now to ferries. The Treasurer said in the mini-budget—I love this particular line—that he is focused on improving public transport. In the same breath he axed JetCat services, cancelled or suspended rail links and cancelled the North West Metro. He raised the fares on whatever public transport was left. This is a Government that has no ideas. By any measure it is an upside down world in the Rees Cabinet. I cannot imagine what it is like. How do they do the research? When making his announcement the Minister for Transport said he read the executive summary of the Walker report. That is all he did. The Premier's research was to hop on the JetCat once, and he saw five people. That is the research that happens in the Rees Cabinet. That is the way they do it.
The Premier's saying today that he thought he was going to lose the next election was very telling. I will tell members why he is going to lose the election. It is because he has forgotten the families he is trying to represent. He is taxing them for his mismanagement and the problems we have today.
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