Page 1637 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Junior Secondary Bursary Scheme
MS MAHER: My question is also to the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts. Is the Minister aware of the growing number of ACT low income families, including some on social security pensions, who are being denied access to the junior secondary bursary scheme because the means test applied to that scheme has not been increased since 1987? Can the Minister inform the Assembly as to what action is being taken to improve this situation?
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, I am aware of the situation that Ms Maher has raised, and I thank her for that question. My ministry reviewed the scheme recently, and the issue of an increased income limit was raised. It is certainly true that the income limits applying to the scheme have not been changed, and it is true that, in fact, some families receiving social security pensions now have incomes extraordinarily in excess of the income limit, which is obviously quite ridiculous and has to be reconsidered.
The scheme is an adjunct to the Commonwealth Government's Austudy program, and it is designed to assist 14- and 15-year-old students from low income families. Obviously, anybody with school-age children at that level knows that there are quite considerable costs associated with education at that level. The question of a fixed means test and rising social security pension rates is a matter of concern for the Government. I have asked for the matter to be reviewed, and I hope to be able to advise Ms Maher and the Assembly in due course on the result of that review.
Hospital Services Budget
MRS GRASSBY: My question is to the Chief Minister, because I can see him going to sleep there and I want to wake him up. Mr Speaker, my question is through you to the Chief Minister. In your letter to the Minister for Health on 12 April 1990, why did you refuse his request that Treasury officials meet with officials from the department of health to discuss the hospitals' base funding level?
MR KAINE: I would like to have a look at the letter that you are quoting, but I doubt very much whether I refused anything of the kind. It has always been my view that, if there are financial problems, then the Treasury should assist with identifying those problems and finding solutions. That has always been the approach that I have taken. I do not recall the letter that you are referring to, but I would like to read that letter and see just what it does say.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .