Page 4637 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 27 November 1990
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with the Community Development Fund. It intends to cut back funding. Otherwise, it would not have ripped off $5m from the surplus of the fund and hidden it away in Consolidated Revenue.
We only have to look at the totals for the year, and it can be demonstrated that the promised expenditure by the Follett Labor Government was around $20.372m. That is something that the Chief Minister described in his Budget Speech as the raping of the fund of $21m. That was when he was talking to me. That was expenditure which was promised to the community organisations by the Follett Labor Government, which promise was not lived up to as this Government opposite sought to save money to fund the eventual surplus. What was spent out of the $20.372m that was promised? $16.568m was spent. That is what the actual expenditure levels are going to be based on for the future.
We only have to look at Mr Collaery, who jumped to his feet and said that everything was going to be all right for the community organisations. That was untrue. If it were true, Mr Collaery would be spending $15.7m in his area instead of a lousy $11m or so. That is what the truth would be. When Mr Collaery answered my question in relation to this matter he informed us that he had not even bothered to spend $1.8m. I will bet that that amount of money which has not been spent was not taken into account when this Government calculated the real terms guarantees for community organisations. They have not guaranteed and they are not guaranteeing the funding level. They are misleading the community organisations. That is what they are doing.
The fact of the matter is that this Government is not living up to the promise that the Chief Minister made in this place. I do not believe that the Chief Minister knows what his promise adds up to. I should remind you, Mr Speaker, that this is the Chief Minister who had to be given 15 minutes to find his place when the Follett Budget was put before this place.
The fact of the matter is that this Government is misleading community organisations. It is trying to have them believe that it will continue funding for those organisations at the same levels which were allocated by the Follett Labor Government. Well, they are not doing that. All that they have guaranteed is that they will continue funding on the basis of the amount of money that they spent. That is clear from the figures that they themselves spent. Those are the facts. You will have plenty of opportunity to deny it.
Mr Duby: We deny it.
MR BERRY: Go for your life. Nobody believes you. Who would believe you now? Who would believe the Liberals who promised to be something when they ran for election and turned out to be something else?
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