Page 554 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 May 1992
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I will take those one by one. In connection with those people of ethnic backgrounds, in September 1990 the Alliance Government issued a blueprint for a multicultural ACT, and we set up a multicultural advisory council and appointed a multicultural liaison officer in the Chief Minister's Department. The Alliance Government took a series of positive actions to take account of the concerns of the people with ethnic backgrounds, to make sure that they participate fully in this society and are not disadvantaged because of their backgrounds.
We did the same thing in connection with the ageing. It was the Liberals in the Alliance Government that, for example, instituted - I might add, against the Labor Party's objections - the Assembly's inquiry into the needs of the ageing and, from the results of that inquiry, the Liberals in government issued a blueprint for the ageing. That was largely based on advice from the ACT Council on the Ageing as well as the output of the Assembly's committee. It was the Liberals in government who instituted the seniors card, and we elevated the problems of the ageing to the topmost level of government by placing it within the province of the Chief Minister.
We have no apologies to make about our record in connection with the disabled and the disadvantaged in our community. In connection with the disabled, we had already begun action in government to make special provision for them. Again, under the Alliance Government, some people with mental impairment were provided with jobs within the ACT Government Service. I might note that an often and much maligned Minister in the Alliance Government, Craig Duby, had a very good record of placing people with mental impairment in the ACT Government Service. Often people are not credited with their achievements, but I think it is fair and reasonable to give credit where it is due.
We have a record, and I would like to think this Government could match our achievements in these matters. Regrettably, that is not true. I have said before that this Government is the most conservative in Australia; it is a no-change government, a status quo government. No initiatives come from this Government - not even this one. This is merely an extension into statutory bodies of the Alliance Government's Discrimination Act. It is hardly an initiative.
Although the members opposite make much of their position on this, their actions speak louder than their words - or, rather, their inaction speaks louder than their words. I refer, Madam Speaker, to a statement made by the Minister for Industrial Relations today. We have the Government's proposals to amend all of these Acts to extend equal opportunity into all of these statutory bodies; but in connection with the handicapped, the disabled, I note that the Minister said:
The ACT -
I presume that he means the Labor Government in the ACT -
will also continue to monitor developments at the Commonwealth level in establishing an appropriate wage regime for workers with disabilities entering the mainstream work force.
He is not saying that this Labor Government is going to do anything about it. As usual, it is waiting for the Commonwealth to take some initiative. It is monitoring what the Commonwealth might do, and once it has figured that out it might do something in the ACT. It is typical of this Government which does not come forward with any initiatives of its own; it merely projects into the future the things that the Alliance Government initiated, or takes over Commonwealth initiatives that arise from the Premiers Conference or some other agenda. If and when it gets around to it, it might do something.
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