Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, 4½—have actually voted against installing these CCTV cameras in the CBD, even though the council's budget has set aside more than half a million dollars for their installation. Could it perhaps be that they need this half a million dollars for something else? That is very close to the figure that they will need to pay the extra costs for their electricity as a result of the carbon tax.

Instead of spending this money on the CCTV cameras, the Labor-controlled Liverpool City Council has elected to install a series of parking meters in their CBD. The local councillors have been most eager to install these money-hungry parking meters. No hurdles were bypassed in their installation. One can only surmise that perhaps the Labor councillors are also looking at the extra revenue from these parking meters to fund the additional costs they will have to pay come 1 July, as soon as they are hit with the carbon tax.

Putting this aside for one moment, Mr Deputy Speaker, what do you think could have possibly happened to these newly installed parking meters without the cover of CCTV cameras? I have received reports that graffiti vandalism has already been covering these newly installed parking meters. Who could have seen that coming? We now find ourselves in the ironic position that Labor's parking meters are now actually costing the ratepayers of Liverpool money, before they have even been switched on.

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