Page 179 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 May 1989
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MRS GRASSBY: This is the only State in Australia that does not have any legislation in this respect. My department intends to introduce legislation to reduce the dimension of trucks, which are far too large, going through Canberra, and the mass limits of heavy vehicles which are damaging our roads. We do intend to bring in legislation in common with every other State in Australia and the Northern Territory.
We in Canberra are very lucky to have very good roads. People have told me that they have never been to a place where they build the highways before they build the houses, and so we are very lucky to have that. But large overweighted trucks are doing damage to the roads and we do not want an enormous bill for road repairs. So we will be bringing legislation into the parliament governing the weight of trucks that can travel through the ACT.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND
MR COLLAERY: Will the Minister for Community Services and Health advise the ACT community and all the voluntary organisations that rely on the Community Development Fund as to his intention with respect to the continuance or otherwise of the Community Development Fund?
MS FOLLETT: I think it is more appropriate that I deal with the matter in my capacity as Treasurer. Many community groups which are reliant on the Community Development Fund have for many years expressed concern over the uncertainty of their funding under that arrangement and the fact that they have had to budget from year to year without any real knowledge of whether they would be able to continue to exist. That has certainly been the case with community groups that I have been associated with. It is also a matter that has given some concern because many of those community groups are carrying out essential services which in other parts of Australia would have been carried out by local government or some other government organisation.
In the ACT, we have relied for many aspects of our daily life - such as after-school care, care of aged people and all sorts of welfare arrangements, as well as the more creative side of life, the arts, culture and so on - on organisations funded under the Community Development Fund.
This issue was raised during the recent election. Many parties, my own included, undertook to those community groups to look at the continued operation of the Community Development Fund and, in particular, to try to bring that fund into a more rational mode of operation and to reduce their reliance on annual funding where such groups are carrying out essential services. This matter has to be addressed in the budget context but, if there is a way for
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