Page 5985 - Week 14 - Thursday, 8 December 2011
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MS HUNTER: The Tea Party, of course. What about those people receiving funeral assistance and those people with special transport needs? What about the taxi subsidy scheme?
Mr Hanson: A point of order.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: One moment, Ms Hunter. Please stop the clocks. Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: Why is it, Madam Assistant Speaker, may I ask, that you will talk to the opposition and close down the opposition when there are any interjections, but when they come from either the government or the Greens, you sit there mute?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, there is no point of order.
Mr Barr: On the point of order, I recall you telling me at least three times in previous speeches not to interject, and I apologise for interjecting.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Barr. There is no point of order. Ms Hunter, you have the floor.
MS HUNTER: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. There is a whole list of concessions that government give to those who really do need assistance. There is the artificial limb scheme and the energy wise home energy audit. There is the seniors spectacles scheme, the ambulance transport levy exemption, the dental health program—a range of very important concessions that are there to ensure that many individuals are able to access assistance. If we go down the line of stopping all taxes and charges, that means we will not be able to deliver services and we certainly will not be able to deliver that targeted assistance.
In the last few seconds I want to go to Mrs Dunne’s opening statement that I had said that we need to be aware of our place and that in the world people are living on a couple of dollars a day. I would have thought that leading up to Christmas it does mean that we broaden our look around the world and see that there are many who are doing it tough; they are doing it far tougher than we are, say, here in the ACT. That does not mean that we do not look at those in our community. I have worked for many years with those people in our community who need assistance. But let us make sure that it is targeted assistance. That is all that we are saying. Let us not just open it up so that everybody has a free-for-all. It needs to be targeted assistance to those who need it most. (Time expired.)
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Community Services, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Women and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (4.06): Madam Assistant Speaker, I know there is only a short time left but I do want to make a brief comment on Mrs Dunne’s MPI about the cost of living. I would like to remind everybody of Mrs Dunne’s words:
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