Page 2909 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.53): Mr Speaker, while Mr Berry and Mr Wood have attempted to defend their position, I think it is quite clear that their proposition that their actions are based on social justice, as stated in their so-called budget, which they are still waiting for advice on, and everything that they have done since they came back into government over two months ago, is a sham; because one of the groups of people in this society that deserve some social justice is the ageing.
These people, by and large, as Dr Kinloch pointed out, generally retire. Some of us are not yet there, but generally they retire. That element of the community has paid its dues and it is entitled to some consideration. Yet everything that this Government is doing indicates that they have no concern for these people whatsoever. Mr Humphries has indicated the ways in which their actions - and their actions speak louder than their words - have put the interests of the ageing community at risk, or certainly at the bottom end of the priority list.
Mr Berry, in his 15 minutes, hardly spoke about the ageing at all. He spoke in defence of their hospitals and health system proposals. That demonstrated how concerned he is about the ageing. We are here in this hour to talk about the ageing. He scarcely addressed that matter. He really did not defend the things that Mr Humphries said about this Government and its attack on the interests of the ageing.
Mr Wood, unfortunately, did not do much better. I waited for him to explain to me why this Government believes that the RSL should not build some units for their retired and their ageing people on this particular site at Lake Ginninderra. All I heard him do was hypothesise about what the RSL might do and express the very subjective view that he did not agree with that. He did not explain why they could not have it or why they should not have it. I would ask the question, Mr Speaker: Why is it that somebody else, unspecified, seems to have a better claim to the use of this piece of ground than the RSL?
Mr Wood: Yes, the whole community.
MR KAINE: Not the whole community, Mr Wood. You are talking at cross-purposes. The current plan for that land shows streets. It is intended, and always has been intended, that that land be used for some acceptable purpose. Now, what you are trying to do is redesign the whole area and say that it is intended to be green space, that it is community property. It is not, and you have not established that it is.
Mr Moore: Either you have got it wrong or you are trying to mislead the house.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .