Page 3024 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 5 December 1989
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I must say, in referring to welfare, Mr Speaker, that I heard Mr Collaery raise the issue of subsidised accommodation. I am sure he was referring to substitute care, and I just hope that he gets it right in the future.
But, most importantly, the budget process highlighted the complete inadequacy of the Liberal coalition to cope with anything positive, despite the mumblings from Mr Kaine and Mr Collaery about some form of collegiate government for the ACT. Both, indeed, Mr Speaker, walked away from the process. Given the opportunity to participate in the budget consultative process, you could not have locked either of them in there. They would have kicked the door down to get out.
Mr Kaine: Because it was such a sham; that is why.
MR BERRY: You could not cope with it, and you proved that later, Mr Kaine.
Mr Kaine: It was just a sham, and you know it.
MR BERRY: You proved it later - and I will come to that. I must say that I was interested in the statements by Mr Duby. I view his statements as being somewhat doubtful and demonstrative of an element of duplicity, because there is no doubt that Mr Duby had full access to the budget process and stayed with it, unlike Mr Kaine and Mr Collaery, but in terms of a positive input he was unable to achieve anything. He later made some criticism in this house, but they were largely empty words - drum beating, I suggest.
Tough decisions were made to remain within the constraints of the ACT's first ever budget. In the final analysis the budget we handed down reflects the Government's strong commitment to social justice and our fiscal responsibility. Yet, despite the restrictions of this year's budget, the Government has made a number of important new services possible.
One of the things that I find interesting in dealing with the budget here is that, although Mr Kaine claims to know so much about the budget process, we had to hold up the proceedings of this Assembly to demonstrate how we were going to work our way through it for him. We had a 15-minute adjournment so that he could cope with the problem of dealing with the budget papers. Yet he gets up in this place and suggests that he is in a position to criticise this Government.
The services that have been made possible under the budget process by this Government include a 24-hour direct access service for mentally disturbed persons; the establishment of a health promotion fund to strengthen the community's awareness of health activities, and I am sure that the tobacco lobby will be on your doorstep tomorrow to try to weaken our position in relation to that because they got no joy from this Government; employment of counsellors for the
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