Page 6084 - Week 18 - Thursday, 12 December 1991
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Mr Speaker, the Disability Services Bill is notable for its schedules at the back. If members have it to hand they will see that there is a schedule 1 and a schedule 2, and they complete the tapestry - in recent times, and certainly in the lifetime of this Assembly - of additions to human rights guarantees that our Assembly, in our short time, has given. I doubt that any parliament in Australia has done so much in such a short period in the field of attending to matters of human dignity. And that is not only to do with legislation.
My colleague Mr Kaine, when he was Minister, gave a lot of attention to issues affecting the ageing. He has always frankly conceded, with Dr Kinloch, that he is closer to the subject than some of the rest of us are, but the fact is that he has taken initiatives that are outside of legislation, by way of concessional reviews and initiatives, and his own close personal attention to issues.
This Bill before the house is only part of a general and agreed and bipartisan consciousness, at most levels, of the support that our Assembly gives to the community. This is a good example today of why it is very difficult to say that we should have only a municipal-style government. If you are a municipal-style government, it is very hard to have the sovereign capacity to negotiate agreements such as this.
This is a clear example of the blend between local constituent sensitivity, which I believe most, if not all, members of this house have, and the fact that someone has to go and negotiate with the Federal Government and other States and bring about an agreement. I am pleased to say that successive governments in this Territory have brought about this agreement. This is the outcome of that process. It is the outcome of receptive political parties in this chamber and it reflects a great deal of experience.
We should remember, as was noted by Hilary Astor, a senior lecturer in law at Sydney University, in a notable paper she did on physical disability issues, that, as well as specialist services appropriate to their impairments, people with disabilities require the fundamentals of everyday life, such as employment, housing, education, entertainment, sporting and leisure activities.
I will go through those points. In terms of employment, I think our colleague Mr Duby did a lot. Given the scope of his then ministries, he probably did more than the rest of us because of the types of ministries that he had that allowed it. I am pleased to say that Mr Connolly has continued it. Mr Duby was a forerunner in employing people with disabilities. That initiative was moved by the then Chief Minister, Mr Kaine, and supported by all of us, and I am sure that it was supported by the then Opposition.
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