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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (23 October) . . Page.. 4043 ..
have language difficulties to deal with the bureaucracy, housing, community safety-that is, the police-and planning. It is hard enough if you have a good command of English to get through the maze of planning regs and rules. Imagine what happens if English is your third or fourth language. I have personally helped to create educational opportunities and employment for the kids, because kids are the future of the place.
The ACT government values feedback from the multicultural community in any of its forms. That is why the Chief Minister has the advisory council. We have undertaken considerable consultation with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on, for example, the Canberra social plan; the young people at risk forum policy group, which the Chief Minister's Department runs; and the caring for carers policy, which the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services runs.
When we talk about the wonderful job carers do, we forget that the carers within non-English speaking families, or where older siblings are not really conversant in the language, have a heck of a lot more difficulty than we would. This government acknowledges the work these kids and the other carers in the families do; the people opposite do not. I do not include all the people opposite, but I do include the proponent of this matter of public importance. It is indeed a matter of public importance because Mr Pratt has quite adequately exposed his own weaknesses in the issue.
Members of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs are working towards a multicultural charter proposal. They have given a seminar on delivering services to the elderly from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as a migrant women's forum. That does not sound to me like the government is doing nothing. It does not sound to me as though the government is abandoning this. It sounds as though the shadow ministry to do with multicultural affairs have not done their work. It sounds to me like they are just bone idol and do not know what is going on in this town. Perhaps they really ought to do their homework before they shoot their mouth off.
For the past two years, the ACT government, inclusive of all government agencies, has conducted highly successful consultation seminars on delivering services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in preparation for the annual multicultural action plan-that is, doing something, not sitting there carping, whinging and carrying on. We were put in government last time because the people opposite did nothing. What has happened? They brought in Mr Pratt to rescue them. I have some sad news for those opposite: you are stuck in opposition for a long time if you have people of the calibre of Mr Pratt.
Mrs Burke
: He's trembling.MR HARGREAVES
: The one-term wonder over there is going to be trembling. Mr Pratt has already mentioned the multicultural centre. I do not remember that when we were in opposition. Do you, Minister? No? The bigger and better national multicultural festival of 2004? Which government, Minister, tried to kill off the Canberra Festival and the Multicultural Festival by shoving them together? I suspect it was the Liberal government. Oh dear!MR DEPUTY SPEAKER
: Order! Mr Hargreaves has the floor and he is addressing the chamber, not engaging in a dialogue across the carpet.
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