❓ Debate regarding the affordability of the New MetroRail southern line project budget variation, with accusations of concealment and mismanagement traded between the Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition.
AnsweredQoN 1399Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the variation in the budget of the New MetroRail southern line project. Can the Government afford it? Mr C.J. Barnett: How long have you known for? Mr E.S. RIPPER
AnswerView source ↗
Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: How long have you known for? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: How long have you known for? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Since Monday, when the Government made the decision. That is the budget matter. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: Why did you conceal it from the Parliament? Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: What a remarkable statement. The Government made a decision in Cabinet on Monday and announced it to the Parliament on Tuesday, yet the Leader of the Opposition claims that we have concealed it. Is the Leader of the Opposition arguing that we concealed the decision for 24 hours? What a stupid argument. The Government’s finances are in good shape because we have exercised financial discipline for the past three years. We have delivered three balanced budgets. At the same time, we have poured tens of millions of dollars into our priority areas of health, education and policing. Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Last Friday I announced the proclamation dates for the abolition of a series of state taxes. Some of those state taxes have been on the statute book for more than 120 years. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: All I hear is carping from the Leader of the Opposition. Does he support the abolition of six taxes? Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: I don’t support the $100 million in extra taxes. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition will not say whether he supports the abolition of the six taxes. I also want to say what I said last Friday; that is, the Government will consider targeted tax cuts in the next budget if the State can afford it. I, as Treasurer, will be taking that approach as we go into the budget process. However, those tax cuts will be possible only due to our financial discipline. Regrettably, financial discipline appears to be a foreign concept to members opposite. They raised taxes in five out of eight budgets and still delivered five out of eight budgets in deficit. On the other hand, we abandoned their reckless practice of spending windfall gains. We do not spend windfall gains, we deliver balanced budgets and we acknowledge that one-off revenue windfalls cannot be used for ongoing expenditure. In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
In 2002-03 the Government was able to announce that state debt for that year was $4.465 billion; that is $1.4 billion lower than originally forecast, the second lowest debt figure in a decade and even lower than the official pre-election forecast of debt in the previous Government’s last year in office - 2000-01. That was a very good debt result. We have controlled debt, we have delivered surpluses, we have preserved our AAA credit rating and we have kept our debt-to-revenue ratio well below our self-imposed target of 47 per cent. We can afford to accommodate the variation in the rail project because of all those things we have done. Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: A $400 million tax increase! Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is the Leader of the Opposition saying? Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr C.J. Barnett: You raised taxes by $410 million a year, by policy decisions to increase rates of tax. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Leader of the Opposition complains about the rail budget. Each year for three years he had a blow-out in his education budget, which was equivalent to the increase in the rail budget that we have announced today. He was one of the worst offenders in the Government, which was described by Alan Wood as sinking in a sea of red ink when it left office. The Leader of the Opposition invested tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the mirage of Oakajee; he invested taxpayers’ money in the Windimurra pipeline, which Western Power has had to write off; and he was part of the government budget committee that did nothing about the light vehicle leasing arrangement with Matrix Leasing Pty Ltd, and underfunded the police communications and information technology project by tens of millions of dollars. Mr Speaker, do you know what the Leader of the Opposition did when he was on the budget committee of the previous Government? The police went ahead with a massive telecommunications and information technology project on the strength of a letter from the previous Premier. It was not made public in the budget papers; it was concealed from the public in a private communication between the former Premier and the Commissioner of Police. There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
There is a very important question here: was the Leader of the Opposition paying attention when he sat on the previous Government’s budget committee or was he asleep at the wheel?
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