Page 1666 - Week 08 - Thursday, 28 September 1989
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providing. Not us. The Liberals will do it. But trust us, the Labor Party, not to do that". The speed with which the Labor Government reversed that policy after coming into government leads me to only one conclusion and that is that it knew full well from the very outset that the economy of the ACT would have to sustain certain cuts; it intended to make them but realised that the promises made during an election campaign would be non-redeemable - that people would not be in the position to hold them to account for that until far too late. I have to say that if people do not learn a lesson from that for the next election they will be very foolish indeed.
There have been a number of backdowns on initial budget cuts totalling some $1.05m in the community services and health areas. However, quite substantial cuts will still go ahead. Substantial rises will still take place in the form of, for example, charges for private hospital beds in public hospitals - very substantial increases. As I have said before, there is also to be an ambulance tax for people with private health insurance. So much for the promise that individuals would not face any increases in their personal tax levels as a result of a Labor government. These two measures by themselves will add $50 a year to the average cost of private family health insurance in the ACT. That is appalling, Mr Speaker.
In the welfare area, cuts totalling some $352,000 will go ahead in relation to organisations such as Barnardo's, the Richmond Fellowship and Marymead. Of course, there are also cuts to the Galilee Foster Parents Scheme, even though these have been postponed for some six months.
Mr Speaker, I want to remind this Labor Government about some of its election commitments, once again. Let us look at its election commitment as set out in the document, Policies for a Fairer Canberra, launched on 14 February this year at the Canberra Theatre by the Chief Minister. On that occasion, in respect of community services she said:
Community services will be an essential part of the ACT Labor Government's commitment to the ACT being a fair society.
A fair society, Mr Speaker. It all sounds very laudable, but the fact is Labor's achievement in the area of community services has been abysmal. We find organisations like Marymead, Barnardo's and the Richmond Fellowship facing severe cut-backs and difficulties. In the case of Marymead, the director, Anne Burns, has said and I quote her words:
I think the Government is just trying to save money in some area and they are targeting the most disadvantaged groups. It is past disappointment. I am quite angry. There seems absolutely no justification for the cuts at all.
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