Government's Budget is a “tired document delivered by a Government that is out of gas, out of touch and out of time”, said Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons in his official Reply to the Budget Statement.

But Government members insisted that Finance Minister Eugene Cox had proved himself to be a “miracle man”.

The “next United Bermuda Party government”, Dr. Gibbons said, would modernise economic management, adopt a balanced approach to international business and take the politics out of tourism as well as address social issues being inadequately dealt with by the Progressive Labour Party.

And he accused Government of deliberately understating revenues in its yearly Budget estimates, failing to deliver on a plethora of promises and being lousy managers of the economy.

He drew loud and sustained heckling from the Government benches with his analysis that the Progressive Labour Party had been voted in by people who were hopeful that life in Bermuda “would improve just because a black political party finally controlled the government”.

Dr. Gibbons also criticised what he said was a tendency to throw more money at problems in an attempt to solve them - a failed approach because “every year the problems get worse”.

“Greater spending has not brought a fairer society or closed the gap between the haves and have-nots,” he said. “In fact, we are more divided than ever. Nor has heavy spending made a difference in the everyday lives of real people having trouble with affordable housing or adequate healthcare coverage or who just want to feel safe on our streets and in their homes.”

And citing scandal at the Bermuda Housing Corporation, financial problems at the hospital and a “dysfunctional” National Drug Commission, he pointed out that the Health Ministry, which has the largest budget “has a notable record of failure”.

“The Tourism Ministry spent over $140 million since 1998, while the economy lost $278 million in visitor spending,” he said.

“For every dollar they spent, they lost two. A better example of wasteful spending and poor management cannot be found. Clearly, spending money is only part of the solution. Good management, thorough oversight and efficiency are also required, and this government has come up short in every area.”

And Government was planning to spend an extra $39.4 million, a 6.7 percent increase - which outstrips the rate of inflation by almost three times and is over four times the projected growth in GDP, he said.

“The people of Bermuda have every right to believe they aren't getting their money's worth.”

Government had also been “incautious” in its approach to debt, Dr. Gibbons continued. He dismissed Mr. Cox's boast that the net debt position had been reduced from $146.7 million to $123.5 million since 1999, saying that was a result of UBP government policy which was still in place.

Further, he added, Government had planned to borrow a total of $170 million over the last four Budgets and was about to borrow a record $81 million.

“Up to now, the Government has not had to borrow, because the oversized tax increases imposed in 1999 and 2000 created enough revenue to cover costs for both operational and capital projects,” he said.

“In addition, they have been unable to move capital projects forward on schedule, reducing their need for borrowing. While this may seem fortuitous, the tax burden is keenly felt by individuals and businesses, who collectively are now paying over $100 million more in taxes per year than they were in 1998. As the Finance Minister said in his first Budget Statement, ‘In the real world, someone must pay.'”

Dr. Gibbons told his House colleagues that the Budget was clearly designed with the upcoming elections which must be called by November. But the electorate will be faced with a choice between “five more years of false hope, undelivered promises and divisiveness” or his party's “vision... to create One Bermuda in the 21st century”.

He reminded the House of Government had promised to root out waste and inefficiency but had increased the size of the civil service by adding 435 jobs, bringing the total number of civil servants to a record 5,000.

Dr. Gibbons also disputed claims that there had been 2,400 growth in jobs overall and that 2,000 more jobs were held by Bermudians.

New measuring techniques had accounted for a large increase in jobs between 1998 and 1999, but the number of jobs had declined from 37,849 to 37,768 between 1999 and 2002, he said.

And Bermudian held jobs had been reduced by 1,000, while those held by non-Bermudians had increased by 771.

“So we urge the Premier and the Finance Minister to dispense with their new math and tell it like it is: Bermudians have lost out big time in the job market on the Smith Government's watch.”

Dr. Gibbons also sounded a warning that the decline in new international business and the hospitality sector had affected the balance of payments surplus and that Bermuda “might be forced to reconsider its position on exchange control” if the plunge continued.

On tourism, he derided as “meaningless” Mr. Cox's boast that tourism had shown “slightly higher” numbers over 2001 “because 2001 was the worst tourism year in three decades”.

Compared to 1998, visitor spending was down by 20 percent, bednights, air arrivals and cruise arrivals had dropped 20, 23 and 6.2 percent respectively, he said.

“Perhaps the most devastating effect on tourism since 1998 can't be revealed through statistics. It is psychological. The Smith Government has created a crisis of confidence in tourism; many Bermudians no longer believe that tourism can turn around. Some may no longer care.”

Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister said Mr. Cox had pursued “sound fiscal management” and it was “unfair” that the Finance Minister could not be at the House because of illness.

The PLP had not turned out to be the “boogeyman” that their political opponents had warned the electorate about, he said.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown said the economy was in strong shape and Government was embarked on a policy of “compensatory economics - compensating for the injustices of the past. We have to compensate for the history, and I'm sure that doesn't take any elaboration,” he said.

“Opportunities in this community by far have been given to white persons. If anyone here will deny that I'll stand here for ten hours (to disprove it). People of colour have been systematically denied opportunities for economic success in this country and I will say that until I see it differently.”

But Opposition Whip Maxwell Burgess said Government had shackled the lack middle class with increases in payroll tax and land tax hikes.

“As we speak, land tax has increased by 52 percent under the present Government,” he said. “All too many Bermudians, particularly blacks, have a burden with their wealth being tied up in real estate. While they are paying these taxes out of their pockets, they've had their incomes suppressed by rent control on the other hand.”