Page 1155 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 August 1989
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Very few Australians would read the budget statements of the Federal Government, very few would understand them, and certainly there are many Australians who could not afford the $163-odd it costs to buy those documents. So really there is considerable pressure on parliamentarians in Australia, particularly the Assembly members in this Territory, close to the seat of government, to give informed comment on the budget. We have not had a comprehensive response from the Labor Party members of the ACT Assembly. The Chief Minister has failed to allay fears in the wages sector of the ACT. One aspect of the Federal budget is that it is predicated on stable wages growth. My colleague Mr Kaine referred to quite different scenarios produced in the two budgets, of the ACT and the Federal Government.
The people of Canberra heard Hugh Morgan indicate this morning on ABC radio that the wages accord, the famous pact, was only as good as those who were persuasive enough to keep it in place. So really, to avoid a breakout in wages and a destabilising effect on the Federal budget, there is required to be a great deal of union stability and recognition of the broad interests of society. Yet, on the same radio program, we heard a representative of a very large union group in the ACT make a number of divisive, totally wrong and improper allegations against the Residents Rally, a community based group working to assist its members as well as the rest of the community. If that is a measure of what is going to happen to the wages accord and those who stand by it, then there could be troubled times in the Territory. The airline strike shows just how shaky things are in the Federal arena.
We have a very narrow reliance on interest rates and the attempt to use the Federal budget surplus to restrain interest rate movements. The tight monetary policies of the Federal Government have their very clear impact on the Territory in the difficulties of home ownership, mortgage interest rates and the like. The $15m assigned to mortgage, rent and other relief schemes, even if they are ever workable and equitable, was tokenism at its worst. Sadly, the Chief Minister failed to reflect the initiatives taken in the Federal budget on youth homelessness, for instance. It has taken the Federal Government to remind this Government here of its obligations in that area.
The $200,000 allocated, as it will come from the Federal budget to the ACT in that area, is most welcome, and the Rally welcomes that initiative in the Federal budget. But, of course, we have to lament the failure of the Follett Government to take its own initiatives. Likewise, we see the announcement by Senator Richardson of the additional $100m over the next four years for sporting assistance. Sport adds greatly to society, to the health and well-being of this community, and it is an integral part of all of the socially related budget issues. That grant, provided it is seen to be relevant and appropriate beside other provisions, particularly in community based social areas, is very welcome. We see already how the allocation of those funds, if left in this Government's hands, would be handled.
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