Page 1601 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2007
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ACT, a disaster which took the lives of Canberra residents and destroyed the property of many more. They did not warn the people of Canberra.
In summary, Mr Speaker, this budget locks in and continues the punishing taxation and reckless spending of this government. Despite this high spending, ACT residents are yet to see improvements to core services. ACT residents are also yet to see the government take the appropriate precautions, given particularly the drought that we are facing and the water crisis that is ahead of us. It was said yesterday that the reason there was no provision in terms of catering for the drought was that it is likely to rain and that the Australian government had taken the same view. I would put to members of the Assembly that the real reason there is no provision is that the money simply is not there and that, if they had put provisions in this budget for the drought, they would have had to concede that a deficit outcome was being planned for next year.
I think that this is fly by the seat economics. The government is taking a chance in juggling the figures around till it can get just over the line and is keeping its fingers crossed, as Mr Stefaniak said earlier, in the hope that this sleight of hand can be contained sufficiently to get the government back in office in October 2008. I have confidence that the people of Canberra have seen through this effort to present good performance at the same time as they are witnessing a deterioration in the delivery of core services. This budget needs thorough scrutiny by all members of the Assembly and I think that in the coming debate it will be further unmasked.
MRS BURKE (Molonglo) (4.43): Mr Speaker, I start this speech today on a positive note by congratulating the Minister for Disability and Community Services in relation to the injection of $50.8 million over four years into the ACT disability sector. I wholeheartedly welcome such a funding injection as the Stanhope government appears, at face value, to have begun to redirect its attention to the prioritising of funding to sectors that will be deemed as requiring funding as they are an essential service to Canberrans.
In feedback I received through consultations with families and those who work in the disability sector all I heard was that there was a distinct need for funding boosts injected directly into services for which the ACT government has responsibility. I know that the previous minister, Mr Hargreaves, always maintained that it would be a bottomless pit, but I think it is no excuse simply to throw your arms in the air and say, “We cannot do much about it. We cannot direct funding appropriately.” So I really welcome this initiative and this funding injection. However, I would be interested in receiving further insight from the minister into the breakdown of the funding allocation. Perhaps that is something we can address at estimates.
It is important, I believe, to see what proportion of the funds is being directed to accommodation services and the associated increased carer support. There is no doubt that improvements in resourcing and financial support are needed in the respite and community access programs that people with a disability and their families deserve and the rest of the Canberra community would come to expect to be fully supported. The Canberra community would expect this to be the first step of the Stanhope government in moving away from the funding of wasteful or vanity projects and recognising the value of fully funding, wherever possible, human services programs in the ACT.
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