Page 531 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 18 February 2015
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Ms Lawder asked what we have done. We have done plenty. We have stepped in to underpin the enormous funding cuts that the commonwealth have applied to our health system. We will not stand by and let the commonwealth have a negative impact on the health of our community.
I brought to this place a motion that asked this Assembly for support for me to write to the federal government seeking that they honour their commitment to the national education reform agenda. We have seen the commonwealth pull out $32 million of funding in the non-government sector. It was a simple motion, a motion of support to the non-government schools here in the ACT. I sought for this Assembly to support me to stand up for Canberra and to support that position. But, under the leadership of Mr Doszpot, the Canberra Liberals voted that motion down. They see nothing wrong, it would seem, in the fact that $32 million is being pulled out of our non-government schools. That is not an inclusive community. That is not the community that I want to see.
Mrs Dunne is about to get up and talk about the wonderful community of Belconnen. Let us reflect on the West Belconnen Child and Family Centre, which had an absolute, clear focus on supporting our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. The commonwealth funding has ceased. They have no interest in supporting our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community through those additional funds through the West Belconnen Child and Family Centre. That is indeed a sad indictment.
We talk about an inclusive community. As the former Minister for Women I did all I could, and now Ms Berry as the Minister for Women will do all she can, to make sure women are included in our community. That is in stark contrast to Mrs Dunne’s words:
... often women have somewhat of a luxury about whether they are in the workforce or not—a luxury that often does not accrue in the same way to men ... And it is often the case, especially in a town like Canberra where perhaps people are not quite so dependent upon a second income, that women, especially in their middle years ... are more inclined to move in and out of the workforce as it suits them ...
That is an appalling statement for a member over there to make, a member who is supposed to be standing up for the vulnerable—women, single income women, women who may be suffering abuse. They are the words of Mrs Dunne—that women move in and out of the workforce as it suits them. There are many women in this town who have a reality that is very different from what Mrs Dunne’s words seem to represent. Women here often do not have a choice of moving in and out of the workforce; they have an absolute requirement to work to put food on the family table. It is damning of her that Mrs Dunne should come to this place and use words like that and not support Canberra women.
This Labor government not only recognises the strong partnerships that we have with our community but actively fosters and encourages their growth. I thank Ms Porter for this motion and I commend it to the Assembly.
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