Page 1859 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 19 August 1992
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If the Liberal Opposition were here, perhaps they would be able to defend their Fightback package. With that package, Madam Speaker, perhaps the next budget, under a Liberal coalition government, will see them taxing our Weet-Bix in the morning, taxing our bread and butter, taxing the clothes that we put on our children to keep them warm when we send them to school, taxing their uniforms, and taxing every small thing that we use - the very basics of life. For those of us in this Assembly and for those who are relatively well off, this probably will not create a great problem; but those on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale will become the scapegoats. The Liberal plan makes it quite clear that, instead of taxing the very wealthy, who are perhaps their mates too, they will be taxing the very poor. The last thing we need is a further shift to the disadvantage of those who can least afford it.
Madam Speaker, the social reforms that Mr Lamont talks about can come only with reasonable equity, and reasonable equity can come only with a fair taxation system. I had planned to speak about, as an example, the borrowing scheme for tertiary students, but I see that I am running out of time. I will conclude. You will remember that in my speech yesterday I referred to a number of titles from Shakespeare. Today I will quote from Romeo and Juliet for my conclusion. Rather than a loving quote which you might expect from Romeo and Juliet, it is this:
A plague on both your houses.
MS ELLIS (5.03): There is no doubt that there are some very significant gains to community services and in the area of social reforms in the 1992-93 Federal budget brought down last night. The improvements to services for people with disabilities and their carers, assistance to pensioners, to people of non-English-speaking background and to families and the area of welfare housing will all benefit our community. The budget gives effect to the new Commonwealth-State disability agreement under which responsibilities for employment and support services have been clarified. The new agreement guarantees, over the next four years, expansion and improvement in accommodation and respite services for people with disabilities. Commonwealth measures to assist people with disabilities and their carers will also build on reforms to allow people with disabilities to enter the work force and to participate fully in the community. Amongst these measures are an increase in employment entry payment to $300, an education entry payment of $200 for disability support pensioners, an increase in the mobility allowance of $10 a week indexed, and financial support for the purchase of continence items.
The aged and community care measures are about people, their care needs, the needs of their carers, the quality of life and the support government can provide, both now and in the future. Carers, people with dementia, isolated elderly people and people receiving domiciliary care benefits are some of the key groups addressed in these measures. Included is an increase of $5 per week in the domiciliary nursing care benefit from January next, taking it to $26 per week indexed annually. The ACT will also share in the additional funding of $41m over four years for respite services to reduce the burden on carers of frail aged and people with disabilities. For the many carers of these people who have full-time responsibilities, there are opportunities to take a break from a caring role. Respite for carers is essential if they are to be supported in the valuable role they play in the community.
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