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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 4 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 952 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

which was directed to them at the last moment. For the Chief Minister to say that there had been an assessment by the department that these services ought to be provided in a different way and contracted out in a year's time is completely disingenuous and flies in the face of the evidence which is quite plain for the eye to see.

Mrs Carnell had a personal shot at my colleagues. They are pretty tough and they are able to cope with that. I was a little bit surprised at her attack on Mr Rugendyke. Whilst we might have our disagreements from time to time, Mr Rugendyke could never be described as wet behind the ears when it comes to community services, and he could never be described as wet behind the ears when it comes to experience in the community. So to launch into Mr Rugendyke about his experience in the community in relation to these matters is just a wee bit rich.

Those of us who have been here a bit longer remember a few events. We remember when ACTCOSS was threatened with defunding unless its executive officer resigned. They were bullied into a position where the executive officer of ACTCOSS resigned to save the service. That was because the Chief Minister and her office threatened their funding. That is why Mr Anforth was forced to resign. We also remember the Chief Minister's office attacking Jobline and making sure that it was defunded. Guess who was the hardworking community worker looking after Jobline. It was one of the officers concerned with this matter at this point.

Mr Corbell: Who was it?

MR BERRY: Mary Lowa.

Mr Hargreaves: Who?

MR BERRY: Mary Lowa. Let us not forget that the Chief Minister had to be dragged to the line in relation to the SACS award and forced to support it in the Industrial Relations Commission. Guess who was one of the strongest advocates for the SACS award.

Mr Hargreaves: Mary.

MR BERRY: No.

Mr Hargreaves: Kim.

MR BERRY: You are right. Kim Sattler. Of course, each time one of these advocates for youth services stands up, this Government and this Chief Minister want to smack them down. It is all very comfortable and nice if you are surrounded by a bunch of fawning sycophants that do exactly what you want them to do from time to time, but if you do not have a strong community sector that is capable of challenging your views there will never be any satisfactory change out there in the community.

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