Page 3251 - Week 11 - Thursday, 13 September 1990
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but significant features of the budget. While not required to do so, I have also decided that we should help the Commonwealth Government to establish a youth mediation service to provide advice and family therapy to assist young people resolve family difficulties. There will be $40,000 allocated for this program.
The Alliance has tackled the issues in the youth sector and the budget demonstrates our commitment. We have gone further than was required under Commonwealth-State programs flowing from the Burdekin report. I wish Mrs Grassby was here to hear this. We cannot be accused of lacking commitment and delay, as has been suggested by Brian Burdekin about other States. I expect that the Commonwealth Minister and I will be announcing the successful projects to be funded from the $288,000 Burdekin funds in the next few weeks. These recommendations have gone to the Federal Ministers responsible, and certainly I anticipate the early processing of these recommendations from our Government. These projects will further improve services for young people.
Mr Speaker, we are continuing our attack on the problem of youth homelessness. I announced on Tuesday that the Housing Trust will provide a further 42 tenancies in this area in 1990-91, 30 of which will commence in November. Contrary to suggestions by Mrs Grassby that public housing is under attack, this budget will see expenditure through the ACT Housing Trust increase. It will increase from $103m in 1989-90 to $108.9m in 1990. (Extension of time granted) While there is a reduction in the overall number of houses able to be provided this year, I remind members that the Commonwealth Government has not increased its funding for public housing. There is, in fact, a minor reduction in Commonwealth financial assistance, which when inflation is taken into account is a substantial real reduction. If we have less real money from the Commonwealth we can only acquire less housing. I believe that Mrs Grassby's suggestions and the comments by the Leader of the Opposition today are completely inaccurate and are discredited by the figures I have just read into the record.
Nevertheless, we have put together a housing program which maintains the priority for aged persons housing, which continues the demolition and replacement of Melba Flats, but which also makes progress on upgrading and protecting our existing housing assets. I also announced that this year we will be examining a system of off-budget borrowing to enable the Housing Trust to expand its assistance to home owners. If Mrs Grassby is serious in her criticisms in relation to our financial difficulties, I expect that she will support these proposals.
I will be releasing a discussion paper on a progressive purchase scheme before the end of next month. On the other hand, I note that the Commonwealth has ended the first home owners assistance scheme, saved a considerable amount of
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