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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 213 ..

MR HIRD (12.29): Mr Speaker, I commend to the parliament the report on the Commonwealth/Territory Disability Agreement tabled by the Standing Committee on Social Policy. This has been a long inquiry, but I believe it has helped all members of the committee to gain a better understanding of not only the problems faced by people with disabilities but also the difficult tasks that governments face in providing appropriate assistance.

Mr Speaker, I want to make two important points right from the outset. First, this report and the information made available to the committee showed that the ACT Government is doing a pretty good job in managing and providing services for people with disabilities. There is always room for improvement in this difficult area; but, on the whole, standards of care and resources have come a long way since self-government. Secondly, Mr Speaker, now more than ever I believe that this area cries out for a bipartisan or non-political approach to tackling the many issues that we all have to face. I feel strongly that this parliament and successive governments will only ever achieve significant progress in disability issues and mental health issues if we all are prepared to leave the politics out and work together. I regret to say that there has been some grandstanding by some members of this parliament, and I do not believe that this has helped in any way to improve the way the ACT handles its responsibilities for people with disabilities.

While I have not dissented from this report, Mr Speaker, I do wish to point out that several of the recommendations are somewhat lacking because they do not offer any solutions to complex problems. Committees usually do an excellent job of identifying the main problems that have to be overcome, but often, and particularly in this report, the committee has failed to offer the Government or even the community practical solutions. The report tends to be somewhat oversimplistic. A classic example, Mr Speaker, occurs in this report where one conclusion simply states that a solution must be found, and then places the onus squarely on the Government to come up with the answers, even though this committee could not do so. I think that is unfair, particularly because committees should put forward potential solutions and ideas to help overcome problems, not simply rely on the Government to work it out.

This approach also fails to acknowledge the difficulties faced by the ACT in achieving reforms of disability services and gaining increased funding from the Commonwealth. It is one thing to demand that the ACT Government secure more funds and more commitments from the Federal Government, but that ignores the realities of the situation. Every State and Territory is having to grapple with ever-increasing costs and ever-increasing demands and is dealing with a Federal government that has itself had to deal with a massive deficit.

Of course this Government and this parliament will be vocal in seeking a more equitable outcome for those in our community with disabilities. Of course this Government and this parliament are concerned about discrepancies in the wages that are being paid to people with disabilities in the work force. But, at the end of the day, Mr Speaker, these have been Commonwealth responsibilities that have not been properly fulfilled by either Liberal or Labor Federal governments for many years.

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