Page 1764 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 May 2005
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a holistic look at this. The rental market has to be in our focus as well. The role of the public sector in determining rents needs to be looked into—I agree with the approaches that have been put to me about that—but so too does the private rental market. Private rental profits garnered over the last few years, as well as the government purse, ought to be applied to support those less well off in our society.
We cannot say; “Oh, well, we can continue to subsidise all of these people in the private rental market or in the government market” and not get these people who are investors to carry some of the load with us. This is a community problem. We need a community solution to it, and the way I am tackling this solution is to talk to the people right at the bottom of the heap. I am hoping that at the end of the day, piece by piece, solutions will emerge and that everybody will have the dignity of a decent roof over their head in this town.
I seek leave to move the following amendments to Dr Foskey’s motion.
Leave granted.
MR HARGREAVES: I move:
(1) Preamble
omit “reconvene the Affordable Housing Taskforce in the following terms of reference”
Substitute “provide a report to the Assembly on”
(2) Paragraph (1), omit “review”
(3) Paragraph (2), omit “review”
(4) Paragraph (3), omit the paragraph
(5) Paragraph (4), omit the paragraph
(6) Paragraph (5), omit “provide ongoing advice to government on”
Debate interrupted in accordance with standing order 74 and the resumption of the debate made an order of the day for a later hour.
Sitting suspended from 12.28 to 2.30 pm.
Questions without notice
Mental health—funding
MR SMYTH: My question is directed to the Minister for Health. Budget paper 4, output 1.2 Mental Health Services, shows that the target for admitted patient separations for 2005-06 is 1,300. This is 120—or eight per cent—fewer than the outcome for 2004-05. Minister, why are you cutting mental health inpatient services by eight per cent?
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