Page 2992 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 5 December 1989
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Canberra Times redevelopment inquiry, were led to understand that there was no forward plan to extend pay parking to nearby suburbs? Shortly after we brought down our report, in good faith, with a recommendation consistent with that advice - that is, that commuter parking in the suburbs be stopped - officials blithely came to a briefing session on a supposed new transport strategy and told us, and Michael Moore was present at the time, that, when structured car parking and other car parking facilities are full in the city area, a program for residential parking will be necessary.
What lack of cohesion, Mr Speaker, and what discordant forces led to this? We were shown diagrams of where pay parking will go in nearby suburbs. Even the developers' submissions to the Canberra Times redevelopment inquiry assumed that an effective administration could deal with the problem of commuter parking in residential areas, as has been dealt with by North Sydney and other councils.
Mr Speaker, chaos in the welfare system is of deep concern to the Rally. Only yesterday, welfare workers spoke of this on the Matt Abraham show. There has been a failure to rationalise. Recent survey reports indicate some excessive costs within the Government's own welfare area, particularly in the area of subsidised accommodation. There has been a series of reviews but no decisive leader to ensure that they mesh and are resolved by decisive, consultative action. The housing policy review has been a useful step in that direction, but affirmative action, rather than fanfare, is needed.
The lack of flair and the preference for organised publicity have been the flavour of an insecure minority government. Mr Speaker, government is not made up by one relatively popular woman who has been able to avoid a lot of the nastiness of the self-government transition period. One would not be so churlish as to deny her the good reaction she has received and perhaps earned, but it is clear that the real victim in this motion may well be Rosemary Follett. It is doubtful that she will be back in office until she has purged her party of a clique which has not put the interests of the community first but has decided to go for survival. Kind though those words do sound about the Chief Minister, I want to say that I have been personally disappointed with her performance in recent times, particularly over comments, which she withdrew but which were not reported as withdrawn, over the Business Franchise ("X" Videos) Bill.
There have been other matters, Mr Speaker. There has been a denial from the Chief Minister's office that they were aware of funding difficulties at the Legal Aid Office. This is an extraordinary statement when one considers that the Chief Minister sat beside the executive officer of the Legal Aid Office during the Estimates Committee hearings a few weeks ago when he indicated that there were resource difficulties in the domestic violence area, pressure on
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