Page 3485 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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move to split the CLCs up really is a short-term solution. The Greens are convinced that before very long at all the government will need to fix the problem properly once and for all, rather than pretend that this approach is good enough.
Mr Corbell’s arguments on this matter are well known and well practised, but, with respect, I believe they are wrong. The attorney says it is a choice between government paying rent on a hub or the salary of a lawyer at Legal Aid. We believe this is wrong because spending on a hub would actually deliver more pro bono legal services in the ACT. It would tap into the goodwill of the ACT legal profession and harness the energy that exists to help people in need.
It is frustrating that we leave this Assembly with no funding for a CLC hub, but I strongly believe that this issue will not die away and that one year soon there will be a CLC hub established in the ACT and, because of that, fewer people will go without legal advice and representation when they need it the most.
In conclusion, the justice portfolio faces some big challenges in the future. The government would do well to be more open to new ideas and undertake more consultation on those ideas. The government should never see itself as the font of all wisdom when it comes to justice. It need look no further than the profession here in the ACT, who are ready, willing and able to engage with the government and tackle the big challenges that will face our justice system in the coming years.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.09): My concerns about the management of the ESA continue with respect to the annual budget of this agency. The latest indication of my concerns can be seen in the tabling of yet another payment from the Treasurer’s advance yesterday. What did we see? Another $2 million to address cost pressures in the ESA. This follows the continuing operational deficits which have been incurred by the ESA in recent years and which are forecast to continue through all of the outyears.
There seems to be little prospect for the ESA to reduce or eliminate this deficit unless there are quite significant changes made to the structure and operations of the ESA. For the moment, clearly the ESA’s deficit is being managed by seeking recourse to the Treasurer’s advance. That is a most unsatisfactory situation—in fact, I believe, a breach of the Treasurer’s advance, which is for unexpected costs. Clearly, these were expected.
There are a number of other matters to raise. There is the ongoing conflict between the ACT and the commonwealth over the funding of fire protection services for commonwealth facilities, and the ping-pong of claim and counterclaim between the governments. There are concerns about whether the ACT is being considered differently from the way in which other jurisdictions have been dealt with by the commonwealth. You have to question the status of this conflict, and the consequences for the ACT remain to be resolved, as far as I am aware.
Within the ESA, there have been issues relating to personnel with ACT Fire and Rescue, where there has been a major dispute with the government. Where will this dispute end?
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