Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 7 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 2088 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

So I make the point that the demographic profile that the government has pledged to undertake is long overdue and is to be welcomed. There are other indigenous programs, other than just programs sponsored by the Chief Minister's Department, in relation to employment mentoring and business support, and we, of course, support those.

One of the things that have been lacking, particularly in terms of my observations over the last three years since I have been in this place, is a genuine all-of-government approach to indigenous disadvantage. I have never been convinced that there has been an all-of-government approach to problems besetting the indigenous population. All the problems that affect all those members of that community who do not fare well, who are at the edge across a range of spectrums, stem from the initial disadvantage and the terrible cycle of despair that affects so many people. Everything emanates from that despair and discrimination-lack of employment, substance abuse, the health problems, the inability to complete education, and so forth.

That is a cycle which we desperately need to break here in the ACT. One of the major social issues facing this community is the fact that the indigenous population of the ACT continues to be affected so grievously by all of the indicators that show the level of their disadvantage, and the fact that so many of them live in poverty and everything that flows from that.

There are other issues in relation to the Chief Minister's Department that affect the ACT. One is the extent to which we have not grappled with the level of poverty in the ACT. I do not believe that the Chief Minister's Department, through its overarching policy unit, has come to grips with the fact that perhaps up to 30,000 people in the ACT live below the poverty line. It almost beggars belief that here in this city there are 30,000 people, most of whom would be children, living below the poverty line. And what is the poverty line? It is a couple of hundred dollars a week, about $15,000 or less a year. We have 30,000 people, primarily children, living in households with incomes of less than $15,000 a year.

MR SPEAKER: Are you taking the next 10 minutes, Mr Stanhope?

MR STANHOPE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The extent to which this community has managed, through its construction, to pretend, in a way, that we do not have these deep-seated and extensive levels of poverty is truly frightening. We have not responded with urgency to deal with poverty that affects so many people. Of course, having failed to deal with poverty of that level, we fail to take the opportunity to deal with all those other issues that flower as a result of the existence of such deep-seated poverty; issues around the failure of children to perform educationally at school; issues around the inability of children from certain households to achieve the educational outcomes that will ensure for them a future or an ability to participate equally within our community.

The Labor Party is determined to adjust the run-down in education that we have experienced over the last six years. We have not maintained our premium position. We have taken our eye off the ball. There are children in this community who, through no fault of their own, as a result of family circumstances, as a result of the poverty of their parents, as a result of some mental issue perhaps, or as a result of a history of abuse, will not be given the same opportunities as other children in the community because we have not applied the level of resources which we as a community have at our disposal to

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .