Page 1634 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 June 2021
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The Attorney-General is very quick to jump to criticism of the federal government when it comes to funding, yet he and his government cannot even provide certainty of ongoing ACT funding at the last hour.
We know from experience that the Attorney-General is extremely good at platitudes and talking the talk, and we heard it again today—all the right words. “These organisations are doing all the great things; they are doing so much for our Canberra community.” Yet, when we read the amendment that he has moved to my motion, it shows an absolute lack of respect and a lack of heart for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
Today is 2 June. What my motion seeks comes after months of pleas from the sector to provide certainty that they will be able to continue to provide those vital services to our community. There is now less than one month to go before their current funding runs out. For the Attorney-General to seek to completely amend my motion to remove any reference to his government providing any certainty, any reassurance or any support to the sector is heartless and cruel. To change the motion to merely note that the ACT government will “advise the sector as soon as practicable”—in other words, “whenever we want”—is heartless and cruel.
To divert any responsibility for the funding shortfall that our community legal centres are facing, the services that are provided by Canberrans for Canberrans, in a lot of the areas of law that are passed in this chamber, shows again a complete lack of respect for the work they do and a lack of care for the people who receive those services. It is heartless and cruel.
May it be known that if the Attorney-General’s delaying of the reforms to domestic and family violence were not enough to show his lack of heart for our most vulnerable Canberrans, today, the day that he rejected the call to provide funding certainty to the sector, is a cementing of his lack of heart for some of our most vulnerable.
I move the following amendment to the Attorney-General’s amendment to my motion:
Omit paragraphs (2) and (3), substitute:
“(2) calls on the ACT Government to provide funding certainty for the ACT’s CLC within the next seven days.”
In my amendment I acknowledge the ACT’s community legal centres and agree with paragraph (1) of the Attorney-General’s amendment, in acknowledging the great work that all of these organisations do. The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW-ACT, Canberra Community Law, of course, the Women’s Legal Centre, Consumer Law Centre, and the Environmental Defenders Office are organisations that provide enormously important, vital and specialist legal services to members of our community who are doing it tough. The Attorney-General spoke earlier about their important work, and I acknowledge that we are both in agreement about the importance of their work.
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