Andrew Leigh

Media Release

LABOR WILL DEFEND CANBERRA

An extra efficiency dividend on the public service will more spell even harder times for the Commonwealth Public Service should Tony Abbott and the Liberals win tomorrow’s election.

An extra 0.25 per cent increase in the efficiency dividend announced by the Liberals yesterday will take it to 2.5 per cent next financial year.

This is in addition to the minimum 12,000 jobs due to be axed if Tony Abbott wins government.

On the final day of the campaign, ACT Federal Labor representatives urged Canberra to remember the devastation to the local economy and relocation of families when Mr Howard was elected in 1996.

Senator Kate Lundy and MPs Andrew Leigh and Gai Brodtmann pledged to protect jobs and continue building a healthy and inclusive Canberra.

“We are proud of our investments in Canberra from Better Schools to the NBN that have enlarged the capacity of individuals and communities to thrive and meet the challenges of the 21^st century.”

“We’ve built DisabilityCare, put a price on carbon which business is positively responding to, and we’ve built Australia’s first national, fair and affordable paid parental scheme.”

“By contrast, Mr Abbott has not offered any alternative vision and continues to show contempt for the nation’s capital.”

“The Liberal’s commitments to the ACT this campaign have paled in comparison to Labor’s.

“Where Labor has made funding commitments for local organisations and services like the University of Canberra, the Gungahlin Jets and community legal centres, the Liberals have only pledged to cut.”

LABOR’S POSITIVE plan for THE ACT AND SOUTH EAST NSW Grow jobs and the build the new industries of the future A $1 billion plan for jobs beyond the mining boom so all our eggs aren’t in the one basket. A Jobs, Training and Apprenticeship Guarantee to make sure jobseekers are linked to jobs and the training they need. Help for Australian firms to win at least an extra $1.8 billion a year in work on big projects, and new opportunities for apprentices. Tax breaks for 3.2 million Australian small businesses. Keep Australia’s AAA credit rating and stop Mr Abbott’s $70 billion of Budget cuts that would hurt services and families. Better schools with more one-on-one attention for our kids An extra $1.6 million on average for every school across the nation. Extra individual literacy assistance for up to 1.1 million students. The Schoolkids Bonus to parents of $410 per primary and $820 per secondary student helping around 400,000 families with back-to-school costs. Boost skills with over 510 Trades Training Centres already announced around the country, 263 are already up and running, including 3 new Trade Training Centres that will benefit 9 schools in the ACT. World class infrastructure to build the businesses of tomorrow An NBN to connect Australian homes and businesses to world-class high speed internet. Continue delivering our $60 billion of investments in new road, rail and public transport infrastructure around Australia. A world class health and hospital system Continuing to invest in health and hospitals - we have already invested more than $2.3billion in hospitals and health infrastructure in the ACT and South East NSW since 2007. Investing $25 million to build GP Super Clinics in the ACT, Queanbeyan and Jindabyne to address the local health care needs and priorities of these communities. More than $268 million to tackle dementia as part of Federal Labor’s historic $3.7 billion aged care reforms. A stronger community and a fair go for all DisabilityCare Australia to support people with disabilities and their carers. Protect the penalty rates and overtime pay that around 22,000 workers rely on. Cost of living relief, including terminating the carbon tax to save families $380 next year. Increasing the Superannuation Guarantee from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, boosting retirement savings for 8.4 million Australians. This plan represents just part of Labor’s positive plan to build the future.  For more information, visit www.alp.org.au.