Page 3480 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The response the minister provided yesterday showed complete disregard for the welfare of these children, their families and the potential service providers that are seeking answers. It showed a complete lack of empathy and understanding of the issue, and did not provide anything but platitudes. The tardiness this minister has shown in responding to the 2,000 or so petitioners who also called for her to take action is yet another example of this disregard.
In a ministerial statement yesterday, the minister quoted from the Canberra Times in its editorial of 9 October:
Uncertainty must be confronted and sorted, not used as an excuse for delay.
This statement is true. However, the uncertainty in this case lies with the fundamental issue of providing early intervention treatment for three and four-year-old children, with such issues as autism and global developmental delay, treatment that is potentially being stopped in its tracks by this government’s attitude of steamrolling ahead and hoping for the best.
The Canberra Times opinion piece the minister quoted from yesterday also includes the following statement, which was cleverly omitted by the minister:
In Canberra, some carers have expressed reservations about the readiness of private providers to take over the ACT government's early-intervention programs for children with disabilities, due to occur in January. And though Disability Minister Joy Burch says no child will be left without service or support, calls for the private sector to be given more time to prepare, including from Opposition disability spokesman Andrew Wall, continue to be made.
The minister will be held to account by the community on this issue. She has tried to back away from her claim that no child will be left without service or support. The statement has now become “no child currently receiving services will be left behind”. This simple change in language dramatically changes the scope of the ACT government’s commitment. Like all age-based services, as one cohort transitions from preschool and early intervention into kindergarten, another cohort is about to enter the system. This language change has left parents needing to enrol their children in early intervention programs next year for the first time in complete limbo.
For some people who do not have an interaction in the disability space, understanding what these changes mean may be difficult. To put it simply, using the ACTION bus network as an example, imagine that the government took the decision to close down ACTION at the end of this year without consultation and without providing an alternative public transport provider. Now imagine the uncertainty the community would be facing as people tried to figure out how they would get to or from work or how their children would get to or from school. This is the reality for hundreds of Canberra families as the services they are acquainted with will be gone at the end of the year, and as at this point in time no clear alternatives have been provided.
Interestingly, Minister Burch finally responded to some of my calls for a bit of further information a couple of minutes after 11 am this morning on Twitter. She said:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video