Page 4635 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 27 November 1990
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MR COLLAERY: I do not think he is either. I think he votes somewhere else. Mr Speaker, they can be assured that we are looking for a thinking population. I spend my week speaking to as many people as I can, so that I can spread the message about how little a Labor government - your Federal Labor buddies Government and your short interregnum Government here - can provide for the people of the ACT. It is quite obvious that, cognate with this debate, we would bring in similar refinements - post-self-government - to pool betting, gambling machines, and other processes. My colleagues will address those issues.
There are transitional arrangements necessary for legal and technical reasons, but the fund itself will cease from 31 December this year. The Government has agreed that in 1991 additional recurrent and capital grants will be made available from surplus CDF funds. In revising funding arrangements for community organisations, care has been taken to ensure that community groups currently funded through the CDF are not disadvantaged.
The Government has given a commitment to maintain 1990-91 and 1991-92 recurrent expenditure levels, in real terms, by indexation. We have also removed a stigma from the community service area. Often commented to me was the reliance that community groups felt they had on poker machines. Ironically, some of those groups were providing therapy for compulsive gamblers, yet their money came from the machines. It was an oddity. There was a certain unnecessary connection there that I am personally pleased we have got away from. I speak as an individual on this point.
This process is part of the ACT coming of age; but, of course, the Labor members opposite want to live in the past because all they will have is their past glory. They are not going to have much more, as we get into the business of managing this Territory competently and stably. A sign of how unstable this group opposite would like the Territory to be is evident in all that the former Chief Minister said here tonight. She started some scaremongering tactics. I will bet you that none of the community groups that know us, that have accepted the discussion papers and that have attended all the meetings over the last few months will take any notice of this nonsense tonight from the Leader of the Opposition.
MR BERRY (9.12): The only thing that Mr Collaery has forgotten tonight is his hat with the pompom and the little bell on the end of it. He is the biggest clown around. The fact of the matter is that this Government has embarked upon a number of attacks and a distortion of how it plans to deal with the Community Development Fund. The community groups know and do not trust you for it. They only have to look at your background. This discovery all started when I first asked the Chief Minister a question on notice on 15 August. I asked him questions about the Community Development Fund. One, in particular, was:
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